Miami Marlins: Can the Team Compete in 2018?
An offseason purge, new ownership and declining ticket sales have all added to the Miami Marlins woes. With some intriguing prospects on the rise, will the team be able to show signs of growth?
Most fans would have expected the Miami Marlins to come out flat on all cylinders to start the season. For the most part, they’re right. Marlins’ starters have combined for a 4.00 ERA and allowed 26 runs, second most in baseball.
Despite this, the Marlins are 2-3 through the first five games of 2018. The team’s 48 hits rank third best in the MLB, while their 21 runs are good for 10th best in the game.
Sure, it’s just five games in and these statistics don’t mean much. But, if anything, it’s a good sign, considering the tumultuous offseason Miami endured.
Whether or not the Marlins should have engaged in the purge is up to the individual.
What isn’t up for debate, though, is that the team significantly boosted its young talent.
The organization has six prospects in FanGraph’s Top 100 list, a significant jump from 2017’s list, where the team had just one.
Acquired in the Christian Yelich trade, Lewis Brinson appears to be one of the team’s true bright spots. The 23-year-old outfielder is locked into the starting centerfield spot and looks the part, too.
At the dish, the team’s No. 1 prospect has hit .280 with an RBI, three runs and five strikeouts.
In speaking to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Marlins’ skipper Don Mattingly had nothing but praise for his young outfielder.
“Lewis has been a great kid, has a great attitude,” manager Don Mattingly said. “Has an ability to make adjustments. And that’s really what you want to see. If you’re going to have success at this level, you are going to have to make adjustments.”
Aside from Brinson, third baseman Brian Anderson has gotten off to quite the hot start.
Through 26 plate appearances, the 25-year-old has collected six RBI’s, seven hits and his first career home run.
Even Starlin Castro, the “jewel” of the Stanton trade, has done well in Miami. He carries a .364 average to go along with four RBI’s and a double.
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It will be Miami’s pitching that brings it down, though. The offense will keep the team in games, but it won’t make up for the lackluster staff.
With the No. 1 starter being Jose Urena, not much will be expected of the staff as a whole.
There’s reason to believe the team will come close to the 778 runs it produced last year. Additionally, it should come close to hitting near .267 as a team again.
Most of the team’s top prospects won’t make a real impact in the majors until 2019, either. However, when they do arrive, they’ll be the real deal.
Monte Harrison or Magneuris Sierra, the team’s No. 2 and No. 7 respective prospects, will replace Garrett Cooper in the outfield, with Sierra likely getting a September call-up.
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Jorge Guzman, the team’s No. 4 prospect, is a righty flamethrower who should become a mainstay in the team’s rotation or bullpen.
While the team will probably end up somewhere near FanGraph’s projection of 66-96 in 2018, the team definitely has a much brighter future than it did a year ago.