Miami Marlins: The franchise all-time bracket

Miami Marlins: The All-Time Bracket

No. 4 vs. 5 seed

Much of the rest of this bracket will focus on pretty ordinary teams, beginning with the 2008 club. It did finish seven games above .500, but that was only good for third place in the NL East, seven and one-half games behind the Philadelphia Phillies and six out of the wild card.

The middle infield, second baseman Dan Uggla and shortstop Hanley Ramirez, starred. Uggla hit 32 homers and drove in 92 runs, while Ramirez batted .301 with 33 homers.  First baseman Mike Jacobs also hit 32 home runs.

Ricky Nolasco enjoyed the best season of his career, a 15-8 record and 3.52 ERA in 32 starts. Elsewhere, though, the pitching wasn’t much, Closer Kevin Gregg scavenged 29 saves.

The 2004 Marlins also came home third, 13 games behind the Atlanta Braves and nine games out of the wild card chase. Second-year outfielder Miguel Cabrera blossomed as a superstar, batting .294 with 33 homers and 112 RBIs.

Third baseman Mike Lowell provided support with a .294 average, 27 homers and 85 RBIs. Center fielder Juan Pierre stole 45 bases.

Carl Pavano won 18 games, but Josh Beckett and Brad Penny both faded off the highs they experienced during the 2003 championship runs. In 26  starts, Beckett managed only a 9-9 record and 3.79 ERA  Penny was 8-8 in 21 starts.

Game 1: The 2008 team finished 84-77, a .522 percentage. The 2004 team was 83-79, .512.

Game 2: Neither team played a post-season game; hence this is a double forfeit.

Game 3: The 2008 club had a 97 OPS+. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough to beat the 2004 team’s 94 OPS+ and take a 2-0 series edge.

Game 4: In 2004 the Marlins had a 101 staff ERA+. The 2008 staff only got to 98.

Game 5: The 2004 club evens the series with a 30.3 team WAR. The 2008 team only produced a 28.4 WAR,

Game 6: In 2008 the Marlins fielded .980, four points below the National League average. The 2004 Marlins fielded .986, and that was three points better than the league average. The 2008 team’s series lead is now 3-2 with one tie.

Game 7: The 2004 Marlins produced four All-Stars: pitchers Armando Benitez and Carl Pavano as well as Lowell and Cabrera. The 2008 team only featured two: Ramirez and Uggla. We have an unusual deadlock through seven games.

Game 8: To find a suitable series tie-breaker we are forced to fall back on an obscure team measurement, team fielding wins above average. It is just what it sounds like: a position-by-position analysis of how much each team helped itself in the field compared with its opponents. In 2008 the Marlins totaled -1.4 fielding wins above average. The 2004 team totaled +0.5 fielding wins above average.

Result: 2004 in eight games, one tie