Marlins Goal: Hang Around

Tim Kurkjian told an interesting story on ESPN the other night. In Spring Training, Hanley Ramirez asked him why the national media wasn't paying more attention to the Marlins. When Kurkjian explained the low expectations, Hanley said "will you be there when we're a game out in September?" Kurkjian said: "We'll all be there." (I may have paraphrased some).

Well, it's now the beginning of August and the Marlins are 1.5 games out. Can they hold on for another month? Better yet, can they take the division lead again?

The opportunities are there. The Marlins may have lost last night, but the team has played superbly of late. Taking 2 of 4 in Chicago was quite a feat (look what happened to the Brewers in Milwaukee). They beat the Mets in a series. Both Annibal Sanchez and Josh Johnson looking strong.

September 1st...I say they can be a game within first, if not in first.

More Evidence of "Deadness"

Ken Rosenthal has now joined ESPN in calling the Manny deal "dead." This looks like the presiding viewpoint now.

I'm disappointed, but it's really not a catastrophe. Manny would have been exciting, could have vaulted the Fish into the playoffs, and should have brought 10,000 more fans to the park. The Marlins still come away from the deadline with a host of prospects, a good squad, and a stronger pen.

Gerald Laird could still be acquired as well. With Annibal Sanchez and Josh Johnson back, it's almost as if the team picked up two arms. The team, as is, will contend.

At 50-45, It's an Excellent First Half

The Marlins go into the All-Star break at 50-45, 1.5 out of first and in third place. It hurts to fall behind the Mets...it hurts a lot, but it's only by a game. With a restored rotation and the team regaining some confidence, this should shape up for a strong three-horse race to the finish (and don't discount the Braves either).

Still, let's be practical. Did anyone expect this? Most Marlins fans would have taken 45-50 and a bag of sour peanuts, let alone 50-45. The Marlins are skeptic-defying contenders, establishing reputations and instilling legitimate fear leaguewide. All in all, the Marlins deserve a nice pat on the back.

Let's look at some facts:

1. The Marlins started the year 30-20. They then endured a 14-23 stretch, before closing at 6-2.

2. As you all know, they lead the league in home runs.

3. This was all accomplished with Josh Willingham out for two months, Josh Johnson making one start, and Sergio Mitre and Annibal Sanchez still on the DL.

4. Hanley Ramirez was locked up for six years.

5. Dan Uggla is now a household name.

6. In what appeared to be a dismal spring battle at 3B, Jorge Cantu has thrived, Dallas McPherson has 30+ HRs in AAA, and Jose Castillo helped drag the Giants to the bottom of the league.

Yes, things have been good.

A Rotation Without Clasps

Nolasco. Miller. Olsen. Johnson. Volstad. Not a weak link among them. Shake it, slam it against a wall, strike at any point...it still holds strong.

That's how I feel about the current state of things. For the first time, Marlins fans can feel confident in their starter, no matter the day or game. Each one has demonstrated an ability to pitch well, especially of late.

From now on, opponents will glance ahead at the Marlins series and think: "I don't feel good about any of these matchups."

Marlins on the Rebound

Things were looking pretty grim for the Marlins. Some thought that 18-17 debacle in Colorado would derail their season...I wondered if they could recover.

Well here are the facts:

1. Since dropping the first three to the Rockies, the Marlins are 4-1. This "nightmare" road trip is now 4-4.

2. Major credit goes to Fredi Gonzalez and Larry Beinfest, for replacing both Ryan Tucker and Mark Hendrickson with Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad. It could not have come a week later.

3. Hanley Ramirez is carrying this team. Last night? Game-winning home run. Remember when he couldn't hit the side of George W. Bush's enormous Crawford, TX barn? All in the past now. This is why he got that hefty contract, and he's earning it all.

So what now?

The Marlins have three games left before the All-Star break. If they can take two of three, they'd cap off the first half with 50 wins (50-45). And let's not forget, they'll have played more road games too.

Volstad Era Begins Tonight!

Ok, so maybe I'm a little premature in labeling it an "era," but 21-year-old Palm Beach Gardens native Chris Volstad will make his first major league start tonight in Los Angeles. This won't be his first appearance, however, as he pitched 2 scoreless innings against the Rockies on Sunday.

Josh Johnson also made his first start last night, and while he didn't get the win, he did pitch well. With Johnson and now Volstad being added to the Marlins starting rotation, there is great potential in South Florida. There is also potential for a great collapse. The oldest pitcher on the rotation is Ricky Nolasco, who is all of 25 years. Scott Olsen and Josh Johnson are both 24, while Andrew Miller is 22. Miller, Nolasco, and Olsen have pitched decently. But the fact of the matter is that this is an inexperienced staff. No pitcher has more than 3 full seasons as a starter. When the latter half of the season rolls around, this might hurt us. Then again, the Marlins did have a couple of 20 something year old kids on the 2003 team named Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett, and they seemed to pitch alright (Game 7 in Yankee Stadium anyone?).

Expectations are high for Volstad. The Marlins drafted him at 18 right out of Palm Beach Gardens High, and he's made 15 starts for Double-A Carolina this season, going 4-4 with a 3.36 ERA. The Fish have made it known that they intend for Chris to play an important role on the team for years to come.

Tonight's first pitch is at 10:40 ET, but it's Friday night. So stay up late, come home from the bars early, watch our new kid, and hope for the best.

What a Difference a Day Makes...

Following the 3rd game of the Marlins-Rockies series, it felt as though things were starting to come apart. Our starting rotation, with Ryan Tucker and Mark Hendrickson, couldn't get out of the 4th inning of a game and was looking extremely hittable. The Marlins blew a 9-run lead, and closer Kevin Gregg blew consecutive saves. The Marlins fell to 3.5 games back and were falling fast.

Turn the page to game 4 on Sunday. Chris Volstad gets called up from Carolina and enters the game down 4-3. Two scoreless, well pitched innings later, the Marlins have the lead, Volstad goes on to get the win and is promptly inserted into the starting rotation. Kevin Gregg pitched a solid inning Sunday, albeit with a 5-run lead. We also learn that Josh Johnson will be joining Volstad in the starting five. Johnson gets the start Thursday, Volstad on Friday.

Now, we come to tonight's game in San Diego. Emerging staff ace Ricky Nolasco pitches an 8 inning gem, giving up just 5 hits and 1 run. Due to the way the batting order fell in the top of the 9th, Nolasco came up just an inning short of the Marlins first complete game in 264 games. Kevin Gregg comes in and retires the Padres in order, recording the save.

Just to touch on it, the umpiring call made on Hanley's potential RBI double in the 7th was questionable, at best, although if you were listening to the Padres radio crew, they saw it as "the crew coming together, and they got the call right." Even the Marlins crew thought it was the right call, but it was more of an issue of overturning the original call. No one had a better view than the 3rd base ump who made the call.

Anyways, we'll never know what was said in the umpire conference, or who said they saw what, but whether it was fair or foul turned out to be a non-issue, thanks to Nolasco and Gregg. Nolasco threw like the staff veteran he is (despite being just 25, he is currently the oldest starting pitcher on the Marlins). He bested Greg Maddux, who still has not won since his 350th win came May 10th. With the new rotation, hopes are high. And thanks to the floundering Phillies, the Marlins are now just 1.5 games back of the division lead.

What a difference a day makes...

Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad In! Who's Out?

Imagine the utter delight I felt this morning when I learned that not one - but both - of the Marlins' dead weight rotation inhabitors were being relegated to the pen.

Yep, that's right! As reported here by Fish Stripes, both Ryan Tucker AND Mark Hendrickson are out. I never thought it would happen. I hoped, prayed, dreamed, but never believed. Finally, we're rid of Hendrickson!

How exciting will it be to see Josh Johnson pitch on Thursday, then Volstad on Friday. Suddenly, the Marlins have a good hurler going every night (and boy do they need it with the current status of the bullpen...Hendrickson included!) The next five games? Nolasco-Miller-Olsen-Johnson-Volstad. I like all five of them right now.

I would imagine Ryan Tucker gets sent down to AAA once Josh Johnson is officially called up. I like Tucker a lot, but it's obvious he needs more refinement. Hendrickson gave a great April, a mediocre May, and a horrible June-July. The time was right. I hope he regains some form in his new role, but he just couldn't be put out there any more.

Josh Johnson Back Soon?

I never really planned on Josh Johnson figuring into the Marlins' plans this year. Craig at Fish Stripes has been reporting the news, but he always speculated that if anything, Johnson would be a September callup in preparation for next year.

Well that tune seems to be changing, Fish Stripes now informs us. Here's an excerpt:

"Josh Johnson was expected to return from Tommy John surgery in late August or early September, but he is far ahead of that pace, and the Marlins believe he will be back around the All-Star break."

That is some unbelievable news! Let's face it...the Marlins rotation is decrepit right now. At this point, I might even bump Hendrickson next. If you watched his last few starts, you can see that he's clearly lost it, and last night he was beyond horrible. Suddenly, you could find yourself with a rotation of Olsen-Johnson-Nolasco-Miller-Tucker. That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

If Josh Johnson can return to old form (accompanied by a better offense these days), that could be a recipe for a guaranteed win every five days.

Introducing A Pretty Good Guy (APGG)

This weekend, I had the pleasure of running across an excellent blogger. He goes by the name A Pretty Good Guy, though whether he can live up to that billing remains to be seen. Kidding, of course.

What struck me about this particular personage, however, was how knowledgeable he was on the Marlins...and not just the Marlins, but David Samson and Logan Kensing. You all may remember Logan Kensing as the co-star of the oh-so-popular Logan & Josh pre-game show on FSN (with Josh Johnson). Well, it seems our friend Logan has some pretty sadistic habits.

As APGG reports:

"Our pal Logan likes to:
track wild hogs and coyotes with a helicopter hovering over his native Texas, then gun them down from above."

You don't need to be a member of PETA to find that unsettling. It's one thing to hunt game for dinner, but that just seems unnecessary, senseless killing. Can't he find a video game for that?

It also doesn't help (a comment A Pretty Good Guy also articulated) when Logan Kensing is blowing games left and right. Remember, he turned a 5-4 Marlins lead into a 7-5 deficit on Saturday. If you follow the link, you'll see the questions Evan Goldman asked David Samson relating to this topic. I highly recommend it. From now on, you'll be able to follow A Pretty Good Guy in our left link sidebar, which is reserved for only the best of bloggers!

Which South Florida Sports Franchise Will Improve First?

Today, Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel found a little optimism within a miserable question: Which weathered franchise in South Florida will improve first? This is his order:

1. Heat
2. Marlins
3. Dolphins
4. Panthers

Before I give my opinion, let me just say that the Panthers were on the cusp of the playoffs, and the Marlins are currently in first place. It's way too early to call the Marlins a success, but for the sake of argument, let's focus on the 2009 season. Here's my order:

1. Heat: I agree with Dave Hyde here. The only thing stopping the Heat from being a playoff team is Dwyane Wade's health. As I've said before on this blog, it's easy to forget just how dominant Wade was when healthy. Throw in Marion/FA and an early draft pick (Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose), and this team is suddenly good again. I also can't imagine the defensive effort being any worse. In a renewed season, the Heat will rediscover their will to play hard on both ends of the floor.

2. Marlins: Again, Dave Hyde and I are on the same page. I was almost tempted to put them first, but I never underestimate Dwyane Wade. Imagine this current lineup, supported by a monster staff of Josh Johnson, Annibal Sanchez, Chris Volstad, Gaby Hernandez, Scott Olsen, and refined versions of Andrew Miller, Ricky Nolasco, and Rick Vanden Hurk. They'll all be back. Oh, and Cameron Maybin just might be starring in center field too. The future is bright for the Marlins.

3. Panthers: This is where Hyde and I disagree. The Panthers showed tremendous promise at the end of the year. David Booth is clearly a star in the making, and there are a number of other young players on the verge of breaking out. If they can retain Olli Jokinen (a player Mr. Hyde conveniently left out), they'll be a playoff team for certain.

4. Dolphins: I just don't see much happening this year, even under strong management. Is John Beck the starting QB? I like the 'Fins chances of pulling off 7 or 8 wins, but this isn't a contending team yet (of course, we really need to see what happens in the Draft first to truly determine this). Now as for the 2009-10 season? That's a whole other story. Also on the Dolphins' side: in no other league do teams complete turnarounds like the NFL.

Now that I've put this all together, I'm feeling quite giddy about our sports teams down here. Things may have hit rock bottom, but they'll be fine and dandy soon enough. I'll leave you with projected records:

2008-09 Heat: 47-35, 5th seed
2009 Marlins: 88-74, contend for Wild Card
2008-09 Panthers: 41-30-11 (93 points) - 7th seed
2008-09 Dolphins: 7-9

The Marlins Have No Pitching

When I say the Marlins have no pitching, I mean it a lot more literally than you would otherwise think. It's not that they don't have good pitchers, but that they're all hurt. Let's take a look.

Josh Johnson - Tommy John surgery, might return in August

Annibal Sanchez - Arm soreness, out until the All-star break, perhaps longer

Sergio Mitre - Forearm strain, out until at least June 1st

Scott Olsen - Arm soreness, probably out until at least the second series

In 2006, the Marlins had the makings of a great young rotation, with Willis-Josh Johnson-Olsen-Nolasco-Sanchez

Now, the only one ready for opening day is Ricky Nolasco, and he hasn't pitched well since he got injured last season.

With all the talk of the Marlins needing to fill Cabrera's hole at 3B, the real question will be the pitching; namely, how the committee of Andrew Miller, Mark Hendrickson, Rick Vanden Hurk, Chris Volstad, Gaby Hernandez, Burke Badenhop, and Daniel Barone plug the holes.