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The Coast Guard was on patrol around 3:15 a.m. when it "noticed a vessel upside down" on a jetty, Officer Lorenzo Veloz of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told reporters just before noon.
The bodies of three men, including the 24-year-old Fernandez, were found under the 32-foot boat, he said.
"It's a tragic loss for the family and friends but also the Miami community, the Marlins, the state of Florida and anyone who met this fine young gentlemen," Veloz said.
"It does appear that speed was involved," he said. The boat was "at full speed when they encountered the jetty."
There was "no indication of alcohol or anyone illegal drugs involved," Veloz said. Autopsies were being conducted.
The Marlins' game against the Braves was cancelled. The Mets head to Florida for a three-game series against the Marlins beginning Monday night.
A Sunday start against the Braves had been pushed back to Monday against the Mets so that Adam Conley, who'd just returned from the disabled list, could start.
Fernandez was considered by many the best pitcher in the National League and the future of pitching in professional baseball. He was known not only for his considerable skill at his position but for unbridled passion and intensity.
"When I see him, I see such a little boy, the way he played, just joy with him when he played," Marlins Manager Don Mattingly said through tears at a news conference attended by teammates -- with one of them holding Fernandez's No. 16 jersey.
"When you see little kids play Little League or something like that, that's the joy Jose played with," the former New York Yankees star said before breaking down.
"Sadly, the brightest lights are often the ones that extinguish the fastest," Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria added in a statement.
"All I can think about is his little girl not knowing her dad," the Atlanta Braves' Brandon Snyder tweeted at 12:30 p.m.
Fernandez had announced on Instagram last week that his girlfriend was pregnant with another child.
Fernandez told teammates they were born into the freedom that he had to fight for. He was caught three times trying to enter the U.S. so he could play baseball -- one time during which he had to dive into the water to save his mother.
Fernandez finally emigrated in 2008 and settled in Tampa. Three years later, the Marlins made him their first-round draft pick -- the 14th overall in Major League Baseball -- out of Tampa's Alonso High School.
He was the National League Rookie of the Year in 2013, had successful Tommy John in 2014 and last year became a U.S. citizen.
This season, Fernandez was 16-8 with a 2.86 ERA and was virtually unbeatable at home. He made the All-Star Game for the second time.
"His story is a story representative of a story of love and of faith," Marlins President David Samson said during the Sunday news conference.
Fernandez told a teammate that his last start, against the Washington Nationals, was his best ever, he said.
Fernandez joins a long list of baseball players who were active when they died in crashes -- among them, Cleveland Indians pitchers Tim Crews, 31 and Steve Olin, 27, who were killed in a March 1993 boating accident in Clermont.
Former Mets pitcher Bobby Ojeda was also onboard and survived despite losing a massive amount of blood.
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