Next season—the year of the new ballpark—was supposed to be the year the Florida Marlins would start making some serious noise.
The players and coaches apparently didn’t get that memo as the fish have won five of their last six to improve to 10-6 on the season. Their record would be good for a wild-card playoff birth if the season ended today.
When the casual fan sees that record they probably think Mike Stanton and Hanley Ramirez must be driving the ball over the fence in bunches, right? It couldn’t be further from the truth. Stanton (.216 BA, 0 HR) and Ramirez (.236, 0 HR) are off to snail-slow starts. With the meat of the lineup not producing power, how is this team winning?
It’s a couple of things, with a good chunk of it dealing with pitching. Check out their league-wide statistical rankings below in several key pitching categories.
Josh Johnson (3-0, 1.00 ERA, 27 K, 27 IP) and Ricky Nolasco (2-0, 3.00 ERA, 18 K, 27 IP) give the Marlins a lethal punch at the top of the rotation. Nolasco’s production has been especially pleasant to watch since he’s notorious for slow starts. Johnson is leading the majors with his supernatural 1.00 ERA. Can you say Cy Young?
Their bullpen, an embarrassment last season, has been sensational. No longer are they blowing games. This year, they’re closing them.
Another big component to their early success is their improvement defensively. Last season, they ranked 28th in the majors in fielding percentage. This year, with the arrivals of Omar Infante and John Buck and the subtraction of Dan Uggla, the Marlins are a solid 12th.
Considering Hanley is still at short, it’s pretty miraculous.
Young risers like Gaby Sanchez (.328 BA) and Logan Morrison (.327 BA, 4 HR) are thriving behind the plate. They’re carrying the team offensively.
While many will look at Florida’s 8 home runs (29th in MLB) as a bad thing, I think it makes this team more dangerous. The fact they’re playing this well without the deep ball means they have what it takes in other areas to be a playoff caliber team. The power will come.
Hanley and Mike will start to hammer balls over that wall because that’s what they do. But since this team is finding ways to win without the power component of their game, it’s pretty scary to think how good they can become when it all comes together.
Baseball’s marathon of a season may be in its early stages, but this Marlins team is young, hungry, and looks ready to prove the doubters wrong.
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