The Miami Marlins have not been the team we saw in the first half of the season, which was at one point 14 games over .500. They are looking for answers as to how they can turn some of their deficiencies around as they are preparing to push for the playoffs.
After dropping the series 3-1 versus the Phillies this weekend, the Marlins have fallen to 5-13 since the All-Star break, and 58-52 overall for the year. The Marlins are now at 5-5 against the Phillies this season which means the 3-game series in September will be for the series victory and could have impact when it comes to making the playoffs.
Miami is currently 0.5 GB from the last wild card spot in a thick race for the final NL playoff slot, which makes every series more imperative to win for the remainder of the season.
The Marlins have had an overall bad year generating runs. Getting on base is where they excel, which is what is so frustrating for the organization and fanbase, considering Miami is 3rd in hits per game, 14th in On Base Percentage, but 9th in the league at driving runs in and tied for the 4th least Home Runs hit. Here are a couple of things that have happened since the All-Star Break:
The New Guys: Miami added Josh Bell from the Guardians and Jake Burger from the White Sox, a couple of guys whose batting averages do not jump out at you when it comes to hitting for contact, but they do possess the power to hit home runs when they see a pitch they can handle. These two can really help this team when it comes to driving in runs. Here is what they did in the 2 games they played in this series:
Josh Bell: 4/8, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB.
Jake Burger: 2/8, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.
Now, Miami did also trade for pitching as well to help boost the bullpen by grabbing David Robertson from the Mets, Jorge Lopez from the Twins and Ryan Weathers from the Padres. These guys can start games if any of the starters get hurt or can help in the bullpen as well. Weathers has yet to appear for Miami, but here is the up and down beginning from Robertson since he was acquired July 28th:
David Robertson: 0-1, 1 save, 3.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
Robertson has 15 saves on the year, Miami is hoping he can be the closer they need, but we are going to have to wait and see if that will hold true.
Highlight players from the series
Sandy Alcantara: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 101 Pitches- 74 Strikes (73%)
Although it came in a loss, which was completely not his fault, Sandy has been great in his last 2 appearances with 17.0 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, and 12 K. If he is consistent the rest of the year it will put the team in good positions to win games!
Jazz Chisholm: - 4/13, 3 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
Having Jazz back in the lineup is always a great thing for this team but keeping him on the field will be what everyone in the Marlins organization and fanbase will be paying close attention to for the remainder of the year.
Bryan De La Cruz: - 4/11, 1 R, 1 HR,1 RBI, 2 K
Bryan did not have his best month in July but we are three days into August, and he has a home run already, hopefully he can make this a break-out month and continue to make contact the way he was in this series.
Closing Thoughts
We were all raving about Luis Arraez before the All-Star break as he was batting .392 and was being talked about having a chance to possibly end the year with a .400 average. Well, since then he has only hit .350, which would still lead the league in BA. But he has had more hitless games than games he’s hit in, so that has been uncharacteristic as far as his entire season has gone. But nonetheless, Luis Arraez is currently sitting at .377, and we will buckle up for rest of the year to see where this amazing average ends up.
The Marlins are going to have their hands full moving forward trying to maintain the distance between the other teams competing for a playoff spot, but this is what baseball is all about. And now that the trade deadline is over, the fun shall begin.
Up next, Miami is on the road for two 3-game sets against the AL West-leading Texas Rangers and the NL Central-leading Reds.
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