Anibal Sanchez is at the top of his game
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When the season began I posed the question “Is Anibal Sanchez‘s 2011 repatable?” He had a fine season, one that was worth 3.8 fWAR and he set career best marks in innings pitched, strikeouts, K/9, BB/9, and xFIP.
The question posed was one of legitimate reason and potential concern. After all, Sanchez had only surpassed 115 innings pitched twice in his career and his second half numbers were far different than his first half numbers. Take a quick look: Read More→
Omar Infante – Among the Games Best?
By · CommentsWhen you open the season with a roster featuring players of the caliber of Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Reyes, Heath Bell, Hanley Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, Gaby Sanchez, Mark Buerhle, and Logan Morrison there is a reasonable expectation that one of those players would be the team’s best player.
Someone forgot to tell that to Omar Infante.
The ten year MLB vet has come into the season on fire leading the team in a multitude of categories including hits (33), doubles (10), batting average (.330), Slugging Percentage (.650), and is tied for the team lead in homeruns with 6, and 2nd in RBI’s with 17.
But, it’s not just his team that he leads. Entering play on May 12th Infante finds himself sitting with the elite second basemen of the MLB, and in many cases, in a league of his own. The numbers, in fact, are so good that putting Infante’s name among the elite is not only warranted but nearly a necessity.
Now, I’ll pause for a moment to say that personally, I’m not a fan of sabermetrics. Don’t get me wrong, I believe many of the statistical categories are eye opening, but conversely I also feel some of the categories don’t serve much a purpose in player evaluating.
Can Josh Johnson Turn Things Around?
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The Miami Marlins’ most notable moves of the past winter were undoubtedly the free agent acquisitions of Jose Reyes, Mark Bueherle, and Heath Bell, but perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects was the return of ace Josh Johnson. After missing most of the 2011 season with a shoulder injury, the Marlins entered the year hoping that Johnson would be ready to anchor their rotation in their quest for the NL East crown. But unfortunately for Ozzie Guillen and Co., Johnson’s start to the year has been anything but pretty.
Through seven starts this season, Johnson is sporting an ugly 5.87 ERA and has already had three starts where he has given up five runs or more. And although he’s coming off a solid seven inning start against the Astros in his last outing, perhaps the most concerning element to Johnson’s 2012 campaign was Ozzie Guillen’s recent comments to the Miami Herald, who told the paper that he wondered if Johnson was “not feeling good.”
A Closer, A Closer…
By · CommentsA troubling epidemic has swept across Major League Baseball over the first month of the season leaving many fans to throw their arms in the air in exasperation, all asking the same question.
What has happened to my team’s closer?
It’s not just you, Miami Marlin fans. Many fans of the majority of teams have sat in stunned horror as their teams have seen 9th inning leads turn into the things nightmares are made of.
Formerly consistent closers like Heath Bell and Francisco Cordero have imploded, seemingly forgetting how to close games. While others, like Mariano River, Scott Downs, Andrew Bailey, Kyle Farnsworth, Drew Storen, Huston Street, and Sergio Santos have seen their seasons halted if not completely ended due to injury.
Marlins begin to slowly display their true colors in May
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(AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
The fresh, re-branded Miami Marlins stepped into a new ballpark in the Little Havana area in Miami with hype bigger than some fans expected, hype that was regularly shot down and brought back up by the general public, writers, and bloggers. The Fish dropped into their new ballpark on April 4th and battled the Cardinals, a game that unfortunately goes down in history as a four-hit loss. Josh Johnson had given up 10 hits on the night, and the Cardinals’ Kyle Lohse brought a no-hitter into the seventh. Immediately following the game, speculation poured out on social websites, sports networks, and more. The Fish would go on to lose six of their first nine games of the season. To finish up April, they went 8-14, with a .364 winning percentage, and stood in last place.
At the end April, the Marlins were in bad shape. Star-shortstop Jose Reyes had a majorly-disappointing .220 batting average, center fielder Emilio Bonifacio had a .244 batting average, third baseman Hanley Ramirez finished with .207 batting average, and first baseman Gaby Sanchez had a .205 batting average. The only players who seemed to be getting the hitting-portion of the game were Omar Infante, who finished with a 1.070 OPS, a .323 batting average, and a .344 on-base percentage; and Giancarlo Stanton, who was still considered to be struggling at the time, as he finished with a sub-par .247 batting average, .286 on-base percentage, and one home run.
What if the Marlins stink?
If you were to look at the standings today, you’d see the Marlins in fourth place. Not fourth place in Major League Baseball, not fourth place in the National League, but fourth place just in the NL East alone, three and a half games back of the first place Washington Nationals. (Yes, those Washington Nationals.) The team rebranded with not only a new logo and new ballpark, but with renewed hope and optimism after having one of the best offseasons in baseball, after thirty games, continues to hover somewhere around .500 in what looks to be the most highly competitive division in the National League.
I suppose you could argue that a .500 record isn’t terrible for a team that’s seen some of its best players suffer extended slumps this early in the season, and you’d have a point. However, I’d also point out that it took seven straight wins, a Hanley Ramirez hot streak, complete games by Mark Buehrle and Carlos Zambrano(!), surviving a couple of Heath Bell meltdowns, and five home runs in eight games for Giancarlo Stanton just to get the Marlins to a place in the standings where they’d be considered merely average.
A big break for a special player
By · CommentsBrian Moynahan, MiLB.com, Bus Leagues Baseball & occasional Marlins Daily contributor stopped by to contribute a heartwarming story to the site. Below is all courtesy of Brian.
Landon Camp never saw his big break coming.
He was waiting in line for a burger last January when he checked his phone and saw that he had a missed call and a message from Doc Edwards, his manager for the past three seasons with the San Angelo Colts of the independent North American League. The message referenced “contract stuff” that the two needed to discuss; naturally, Camp’s first hopeful thought was that he was getting a raise.
When he called Edwards back, the 75-year-old former major league player, manager, and coach launched into a “long, drawn-out story” that soon had his third baseman wondering what exactly the reason had been for the original call.
“Come on, Doc, tell me what’s going on here,” Camp thought.
Finally, Edwards got to the point: he wasn’t calling about a raise. He was calling to tell Camp that his contract had been sold to the Miami Marlins. Camp, an un-drafted free agent out of Oklahoma City University who in three seasons as an independent player had never before drawn the interest of an affiliated organization, was predictably stunned.
“I just sat there in line for like five minutes because I couldn’t believe it was going on,” he said. “I’m pretty sure the people behind me were mad but I didn’t really care at that point. Just hang out back there and let me enjoy my spot for a minute.
“Something like that is like a dream come true for me, to spend three years in independent ball and finally got my shot! I was so excited.”
The moment was made all the more special by the fact that Camp almost didn’t become a professional baseball player. Coming off a four-year career at OCU in which he set a school record with 65 homeruns, he told himself that if he wasn’t drafted, that was it; he would take his degree, find a job, and go to work.
Marlins need to step up their game
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(AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)
Down the left field corner at Marlins Park lies the home-team’s bullpen. Some familiar faces are in there, from the side-arming Steve Cishek, to the entertaining Edward Mujica. There are some faces you might not recognize, though. Chad Gaudin has hopped around from team to team, minors to majors since 2002. Heath Bell, the first face that we saw come out of the major signings the Fish made during the Winter Meetings last year, boasts a great, effective past with the San Diego Padres. The bullpen, with its recent strengths shown in 2011 and its new additions added in the offseason, was projected to have a pretty darn good year in 2012. Well, so far, that’s not happening.
Well, run support isn’t happening either, you could argue. But deep down in the 14 quality starts of the last 18 outings from starting pitchers, the fact that the $27M Heath Bell has three blown saves, and the five losses from relievers (most in N.L., tied with Chicago Cubs), you can to see that a struggling bullpen is a bit of a problem for Miami.
One Day FREE Fantasy Contest – $150 in cash prize
By · CommentsOne Day FREE Fantasy Contest – $150 in cash prizes
You can adjust your roster up until the contest starts on Friday April 27th at 7:05 ET at which time your rosters will lock and the Live Scoreboard will be available.*
CLICK HERE to sign up for free and register for the Marlins Daily $150 Freeroll on DraftStreet.com.
