After a rough start, the real season for the Miami Marlins begins Thursday. Can they step up and save it?
They say baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. But, in two weeks time, fans will know all they need to know about the 2022 Miami Marlins.
After a rough West Coast swing to open the year, the Marlins now limp back to South Florida for their home opener. It was a trip full of promise … and full of heartbreaking losses. The only thing more full … were the basepaths, where Miami went a putrid 2-for-29 with runners in scoring position. It was a nightmare start to the season, with the only positive being that no one suffered a significant injury.
However, for at least one more weekend, none of that matters. Because the real season, and in a lot of ways the last chance for a meaningful season, for the 2022 Miami Marlins starts right now.
This Thursday, the division rival Philadelphia Phillies come to town for a four-game set. This series kicks off a stretch that will see the Marlins play 10 of their next 13 games against NL East opponents, and 10 straight against teams they are expected to be directly competing against for a playoff spot. The first seven of these games are at home, and should be played against relatively decent sized crowds. The first series always draws, at least as long as wins are being racked up. The St. Louis Cardinals come next, and bring a chance to say goodbye to Albert Pujols with them. It should be a solid turnout for that series as well.
It is absolutely critical that Miami make a good impression during this time.
The reasoning here is two-fold. The first part of this is straightforward enough, and strictly tied to on-the-field concerns. These are the teams the Miami Marlins need to beat. No matter how bad that road trip was, going 6-4 or better against NL East teams in April would buy the team some breathing room. Throw in a series win against the Cardinals and a winning homestand? So much the better. At the end of the day, a baseball team is an entertainment product. The Marlins can be as bad as they want on the road. Win at home, and win the crowd. Some Jazz Chisholm magic, and another gem from hometown product Jesus Luzardo will keep fans coming back.
But it’s never just about on the field with the Miami Marlins.
Miami chose to not either spend big, or swing a major trade, for an established closer this offseason. Current closer Anthony Bender has a loss and a blown save so far in 2022. Miami also chose not to spend big on a free agent bat like Nick Castellanos or Kyle Schwarber. Both come to town this weekend with the Phillies, along with former Fish J.T. Realmuto. Current Marlins catcher Jacob Stallings looks great, but the trade return Miami secured for Realmuto? Shaky at best. Plenty of conclusions have been reached already as a result of those choices, and plenty more are going to be reached come Sunday when that Phillies series wraps up.
Furthermore, this is likely the last weekend the Miami Marlins get to be the loudest voice in the room sports-wise in the market for quite some time. Both the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers have already clinched playoff spots, and the odds are pretty good that both will actually enter the postseason as the top seeds in their respective conferences. In fact, the Heat have already clinched that. The NHL playoffs are still a couple weeks away. The Heat do start a playoff series Sunday, but the first two games of a first-round NBA series are hardly high theater.
Two weeks from now though, that’s not going to be the case. The Heat should be playing real games at that point. As the Panthers haven’t won a playoff series since 1996, all of their action warrants attention. Oh, and just for good measure, the NFL Draft will be taking place as well.
If the Miami Marlins aren’t .500 or better when that second homestand starts, against two non-rival teams no one much cares about in the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks, then they are going to be in real trouble. No one is going to care, so no one is going to come. And if no one comes, and if they haven’t done something drastic already by that point, the front office is going to be much less inclined to spend or promote their way out of some of the mistakes they made putting this roster together. That means reinforcements won’t be coming either.
Yes, it is still early. The 2021 Atlanta Braves went 0-4 and won a World Series last year. The 2003 Marlins started 19-29 before going on to win their title.
Tell it to someone who cares. Just don’t expect to find many who do in South Florida two weeks from now if they don’t turn it around right now.