Miami Marlins: Smart to give Ichiro lion’s share of starts in RF
If the Miami Marlins hope to compete for a playoff berth amidst a competitive NL East scene, playing a hot Ichiro and benching Stanton is the right move.
Personally, spending $50 on Giancarlo Stanton in my annual re-draft fantasy baseball league with a $200 payroll in place is rapidly approaching a time of regret. For the Miami Marlins, so too might be the record breaking contract the club signed him to following the 2014 season.
Or at the very least, some people’s patience’s are running thin, including Stanton’s. Aside from Stanton having missed a chunk of games earlier in the year due to stiffness in his side without actually landing on the disabled list, he’s straight up stunk so far in 2016.
Hitting .194/.303/.418 on the season with 12 home runs and 29 RBI, Stanton has been even worse as of late. Since May 15, he’s hitting just .122.
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It makes sense that Stanton has been benched recently and in his place, Ichiro Suzuki has been getting a lot of starts in right field. The 42-year-old is clearly motivated by his quest for 3,000 career hits in MLB. He’s hitting .344 at the moment and is a far greater asset to the Marlins than Stanton.
Manager Don Mattingly is doing the right thing benching Stanton. Though he’s benching a franchise player and the possible future of pro baseball in Miami, he’s giving fans a chance to potentially witness a milestone moment at their ballpark. For an organization short on history and annual ticket revenues, Mattingly is playing the hotter hand and publicizing his club in a favorable light.
Ichiro presently has more hits (44) in 126 at-bats than Stanton does (38) in 196 at-bats. Though he’s a career .265 hitter, Stanton is struggling far more than he has in previous campaigns. His OPS this season is a full 174 points lower than his career norm and is 234 points lower than it was at this time in 2015.
The Wizard recently tied Charlie Hustle for career hits in a professional baseball lifetime. On Wednesday versus the San Diego Padres, he struck an infield single in the first inning for his 4,256th hit between the both the Japanese Professional League and Major League Baseball. Ichiro proceeded to then surpass Rose in his fifth at-bat of the game with a double in the ninth inning.
While Pete Rose isn’t raining compliments down on Ichiro, it’s still an impressive feat. Even more so will be his 3,000 hits in a major league career by a player who didn’t take his first swing in the big leagues until after his 26th birthday.
Mattingly is keying in on the fanfare surrounding the Marlins and trying to capitalize on that as well as the steadiness at which the veteran right fielder has been striking the ball with contact lately.
Next: Will we ever see another player reach 3000 hits?
The Miami Marlins are somewhat relevant right now at 34-32, but in a division with the dominant Nationals and defending NL champion Mets, they could be on the outside looking in for a postseason berth in September. Especially if their blue chip bopper Giancarlo Stanton does not begin contributing in the fashion that’s expected of him.