Fish Quiet

The Marlins are nowhere to be seen, and must have gone to "The Deep End of the Ocean" this week. Nothing at all coming out about what they are doing/thinking/planning. Maybe Loria has been having secret board meetings....working behind the scenes to come up with a "BlockBuster Deal" at the start of Spring Training???.........Naw! It's not going to work like that....LOL.

I do believe that the Marlins will still sign a "low-priced, long-shot" starting pitcher, like Lincecum, Lohse, Masterson, or Harang.....but they are done with any major changes and are preparing to head into the Season "With What They Have". I'd prefer that they give Latos another shot, but once there's "bad blood" in Miami, it doesn't get wiped away very easily.

Health will be the determining factor for the Miami Marlins this season. They have the personnel to contend for the Wild-Card. For starters....Yelich - Ozuna - Stanton are a formidable OF, both on defense and on offense (if Ozuna hits the way he can). Middle infield has two excellent defensive components, and the DP's should be plentiful. They were 7th in the entire MLB (30 teams) in DP's in 2015. Prado has certainly been a fixture at 3B, but might be a nice trade chip at the deadline if the Fish aren't in the Hunt. Bour has made some improvements, and increased his power output, but still struggles vs LHP.....hence, the Chris Johnson signing for a probable platoon there.....He MASHES LHP at a ridiculous rate....

.372

.405

.499

.904 over the last 3 seasons.......

J.T. Realmuto rounds out the infield from behind the dish. He's a young guy who has tremendous upside, and showed flashes of that last season. Everyone here is hoping that he'll be just a little more comfortable in 2016, since his bat was better in the 2nd Half, once he adjusted to the majors, and gained a little confidence.

Now.....just a few facts to ponder........

1). Stanton hit 27 HR's and 67 RBI's last year........and he only played in 74 of the 162 games! Wow!
2). Yelich is maturing as a hitter (He just turned 24 in December, and he has 2 1/2 seasons under his belt already!). His HR totals haven't increased yet, but his BA and OBP have been very consistent. The most impressive stat for Yelich is, his splits are almost identical, and I'm talking about both his LHP vs RHP and his Home/Away splits are great. And the kid can run a little!
3). Gordon led the league in BA, Hits, and Stolen Bases, and was 3rd in AB's (4 behind the leader) and Triples (2 back). His OBP has increased in each of the last 3 years.
4). Prado has been a very consistent contributor, with a .288 BA and 63 RBI's, typically hitting in the 2-3 Hole. His Home/Away splits are closer together than Yelich (that's impressive).
5). Jose Fernandez is healthy this Spring, and Chen will be right behind him, so there should be less pressure for him to perform "flawlessly". The rest of the rotation is suspect, but we'll see what happens.
6). Coaching - I'm not a big Mattingly Fan, but he has to be BETTER than Jennings....right? I'm less of a fan of Barry Bonds, but you have to appreciate the level of intensity that Bonds brings to the table........and if he can help these guys all hit JUST a little bit better (especially Ozuna, Bour,and Realmuto).....the results could be significant.

As always, we won't know until they "Take The Field".

Your comments and questions are always appreciated....just post them below.

From The Dugout,
Montu