2021 Miami Marlins: 5/28 to 6/7 (1-8 record)
I guess the short answer would have been yes, what just happened was the worst Miami Marlins road trip ever.
Because it really, really was.
No, the 2021 Marlins were not supposed to be world beaters. Their own GM just confirmed that she didn’t even have any expectations higher than league average production for Miami’s offense. Yes, the playoffs were going to be a long shot without the expanded format (which should not be adopted in future seasons). Everyone knows that the team that finishes third in the NL West will be better than whoever finishes second in the Central and Eastern divisions.
But the 2021 Marlins were supposed to be…solidly decent? Competitive? In it to the end, even if never really, truly in it. Sadly, what FiveThirtyEight has identified as historically awful bad luck has been dealing body blows to those expectations all season long. At least in terms of the wins and losses.
This most recent road trip, however, was way more than a body blow. It just might have been a knockout punch.
Certainly, the Marlins are on the mat after a nine game trip that saw them eke out only a single win. Only six times in franchise history has a Miami team lost that many in a single road trip, and three of those came in those lost 1998 and 1999 seasons. It’s been a decade since a trip went this poorly, and that road trip saw a manager change happen. Technically, two manager changes. Go ahead, look it up.
Much like many of the other contenders on this list, some bad breaks preceded Miami leaving town for this miserable trip. Losing the left side of your starting infield will put a damper on things. As covered at the top though, the injury bug ruthlessly followed Miami out of town this time around. Miami had been waiting all season to get back to their actual, projected five-man pitching rotation.
When this trip started, that was supposed to happen. When this trip ended, three more starting pitchers had gotten hurt on the trip, and the news broke that stud prospect Sixto Sanchez had suffered yet another setback. Oh, and clarity was offered on that left side of the infield, with news their injuries were definitely not going to be mere 10-game stints on the IL.
The losses in the loss column hurt to be sure. The Pirates had just spent a week being mocked by the baseball world for abject stupidity; dropping three out of four to them was crushing. Dropping five games to the Blue Jays and Red Sox might have made more sense in some ways, but the Marlins had the best starting pitching of any of the four teams just mentioned. They should have at least won five games, even depleted as they were. They got one. One.
Before this trip started, the talk was about what the Marlins should add. One road trip later, the conversation has shifted to when the selling will start. Before the trip started, the conversation about Miami’s young prospects was about which ones could help Miami in 2021. One road trip later, the talk is all about getting a feel for what Miami will be working with in 2022.
Again, the true contention window for the Miami was supposed to open next season, not this summer. It was never supposed to go this south this fast though. Admittedly, I do also pretty much consider it a coin toss between what just happened, and that 2002 pummeling, for the top spot.
At the end of the day though, give me this most recent road trip as the worst one in Miami Marlins franchise history.