Marlins in August

They started out the month in contention -- and they ended the month as a sad also-ran. In between, they went 11-17. They started the month 1.5 games out, finished 7 out. Who's responsible? Lots of people. Here are the August splits (using ESPN.com).

Of the 16 NL teams:

Runs – 15
Batting average – 15 .234
Hits –16
Doubles – 3
Home Runs – 12 – 22
Total Bases – 15
Slugging 14 –
OPS – 14
Strike Outs – 1

ERA – 6th (4.06)
Runs – 10
Walks – 8
Blown saves – 4 (tie)
Save Percentage 14 (55 percent)

Hermida -- .192-1 HR 8 RBI
Willingham -- .210 – 2 – 11
Uggla -- .217 – 2 – 8
Cantu -- .223 – 3 – 10
Jacobs -- .223 – 5 – 16
Cody – .278 – 3 – 9
Hanley -- .295 – 3 – 11
Baker -- .318 – 2 – 9


Pinto – 25.07
Gregg – 10.13
Olsen – 5.55
Sanchez – 4.71
Volstad – 3.74
Lindstrom – 3.18
Nolasco – 2.72
Nelson – 2.53
Johnson – 2.38
Kensing – 1.23
Hendrickson – 0.66
Rhodes – 0.00

Left on Base

After listening of the Tuesday night game against Jaime Moyer, stranding runners in each of three innings, I have gone several web sites trying to see if Marlins lead majors in total runners left on base ... I haven't been able to find it on mlb.com, si.com, espn.com and washingtonpost.com -- but I'd love to know. ...

Miscellaneous Stats

Did you know?
Total base leaders:
Hanley 222 plus 50 walks for 272
Cantu 198 TB plus 28 BB 226
Uggla 188 and 43 for 231
Hermida 162 plus 34 for 196
Jacobs 152 and 19 for 171
Ross 138 and 19 for 157

Cantu and Jacobs don't walk much ...
Stats from MLB.com at 5:34 on Sat 7/26, probably not including the Sat game. ...

Thoughts on the Marlins Beating the Cubbies on a Saturday Afternoon

The Bartman curse continues. We are now getting close to the fifth anniversary when the lovable, adorable Cub fans changed into monsters, starting a curse that still hexes the team because they blamed a poor nerdy guy for 17 runs crossing the plate all because he tried to catch a foul ball. Not until Cubs fans personally and profoundly apologize to this innocent fan, not until they build monuments in his honor will the Bartman curse be lifted. I am sure Bartman is willing to forgive and forget, but that's not the point. The point is that the monster fans were willing to blame a fellow fan rather than their miserable players. Well, the Marlins scored EIGHT runs in that inning after Bartman allegedly interfered. There was a lot of bad pitching and a big error by the Cubs shortstop, but how can sports writers keep blaming a fan for EIGHT runs? And Wood could have sent them to the WS the next night, in game 7, but he gave up SEVEN runs and Farmsworth another TWO . ... Josh Beckett pitched four innings in relief in that seventh game to preserve a 9-6 victory. But it's so much easier to blame the fan. ...
And so the $20 million Marlins on a Saturday afternoon in extra innings beat the $100 million Cubs ... and the Bartman Curse continues.

Thursday Night and the Phillies

We were in section 101 with the half-price tickets, 11th row, and we left the game bummed out, losing 3-0, failing to sweep the first place Phillies. The game started 45 minutes late, because of a drizzle that kept the tarp on the field till game time. But hey that's not bad for South Florida. From our vantage point, I was guessing 18,000 to 22,000 were there. The sections behind the bullpens were packed. But in fact, it must have been all those Phillies fans and others avoiding the high price infield tickets. The box score said attendance was 15,202 -- just a tad above normal. It was only the next morning that I woke up and thought -- hey, we saw a pretty damn good ball game. Olsen went five innings without allowing a run against the super-hitting Phils, and then those two runs scoring on a wild pitch, well, that's something to tell your grandkids about. For $11.50 a ticket, it was a damn good entertainment. The Marlins are battling. As my friend Orlando pointed out, it was sure a better performance than the Cards gave the next night, losing to the Phillies 20-2.

Extra Inning Shutout

Well, pinch me, the dream's gotta end soon, right? But another great game Friday night and Wes Helms comes through, but what's really wow is the pitching.... Anyway, back to where I was a few days ago about hitting left-handed pitching. Here is the complete breakdown of the starting lineup, via ESPN stats:
Hanley -- .348 lefties, .328 righties
Uggla -- .111 – .305
Hermida -- .231 -- .286
Willingham – 310 – 340
Jacobs -- .161 -- .346
Cantu -- .350 – 316
Rabelo -- .333 -- .270
Amezega – .000 (8 at bats) .341

Uggla may just be having a slow start. His three year splits show .279 against lefties, .259 against righties.
Amezega's three year totals are .154, .281, which is why we see Cody Ross in center field when lefties are around.
And Jacobs? His three year averages are .245, .274, so he can hit lefties, he just isn't doing it so far this year...
For what it's worth.

Sunday April 20

I was there, and it was just about a perfect victory. The best part was not Hanley's two home runs going deep deep into left center, but Scot Olson going seven strong innings and giving up one run. And TT working out of a jam ... But being a cup-is-half-empty kind of guy, let me mention this about Jacobs, who is showing signs of really coming into his own this year, in hitting and fielding. Fredi played him Sunday versus a tough lefty pitcher, as well he should have. Jacobs has to be more than a platoon player. So far this year, he's hitting .429 with men on and two out. Well, Mike went 0-3 versus the lefty. ESPN.com shows he's batting .372 against righties, .227 against lefties.... Hope he can improve on that....

Stats: The Good, the Bad and the Uggla

First, the good news -- Marlins are not leading the league in strike outs. That honor belows to the Padres, who have whiffed 135 times to the Marlins 123 (ESPN stats as of 10:20 am Sat 4/19). They're sixth in total bases ... 11th in runs scored.... The Marlins continue to have the worst ERA in the NL (the Tigers beat them in AL). But at least they're getting the ball over the plate. Their pitchers are eighth in walks surrendered. And then there's Dan Uggla -- batting .167, striking out once in every four plate appearances. On Friday night, he not only struck out three times, but stranded three base runners.

Wednesday night

Well, I was there, another victory, only 10,000 fans cuz the Braves fans that used to flood the park have given up on a medicore Braves team. A little bit of starting pitching, some home runs, and hey, we're still in first place. So let's enjoy this while we can ... that runner in scoring position number is awful. ... I'd still like to see someone figure out how many runs get scored in an inning in which the Marlins bunt. I'll betcha it's close to zero.

The Game of April 9 2008

Remember this game: Marlins 10, Nationals 4. Olson goes 7-2/3 innings, 120 pitches. Hermida returns from an injury and goes 2-5 with two RBIs. Jacobs hits two home runs. Then our young phenom, Burke Badenhop, just in from AA, pitches a perfect ninth inning in his Major League debut. AND we are still in first place in the National League East. Can't get much better than that.

But what about batting?

Well, total bases -- the category that really shows what a batter produces -- as of 10:15 pm Tuesday according to ESPN
1 -- Hanley 20
2 -- Willingham 12 (the New Jeff Conine)
3 -- Uggla 11
4 -- Jacobs 10
5 -- Luis Gonzalez 10
6 -- Robert Andino 9
7 -- Cantu 8
8 -- Amezega 7

Maybe we should keep that Andino around for a bit ... what would his arm be like throwing from third base, I wonder.

2008 Marlins

Carolina Bolado at Hardball Times has the best summary yet of how I feel about this Orange Bowl location:
"The choice of location ... has one glaring problem: there is no reliable public transit anywhere near the stadium, which is in a fairly dense urban neighborhood. Rush hour traffic is already nightmarish; add a weekday 7 p.m. game into the mix, and it could be enough to turn people off. (Which, if you noticed the number of empty orange seats at Marlins games last year, you’d know that’s something the team cannot afford to do.) The local government keeps promising an east-west Metrorail expansion that will include an Orange Bowl stop, but the earliest estimate for completion is 2014 (the Marlins’ stadium should open in 2011), which is very, very optimistic.But, in the end, the important thing is that the team is staying in town and getting a stadium that, in theory, should provide a revenue stream that will allow for things like higher salaries and multi-year contracts."
Her excellent 5Q on Marlins is at .... http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/five-questions-florida-marlins4/

Want a Litlte Good News about Marlins?

Well, if you want to see an interesting exchange, go to "Tigers-Marlins Blockbuster is Win-Win," which has a ton of comments after it. All interesting. Conclusion from our author at Sabernonomics.com: "This isn’t a fire sale, it’s a good baseball decision from a team that won the World Series just five years ago."
The comment I posted on the site: "As a fan who goes to 20-plus games a year at the football stadium formerly known as Joe Robbie, I have to say that this trade just makes the team tough to watch in 2008. Last year was pretty bad, with awful defense and pitchers throwing a ton of base on balls.... But as Rick said to Ilsa in Casablanca, "We'll always have Paris." The Marlins can't trade away 1997 and 2003. And how many other teams in the Majors have won two World Series since 1996?"

Parking

Parking, which had been $10 a game, is going up to $15 a game ... for the new, improved 2008 Marlins. The Marlins say blame it on Huizenga.