The excuses just can’t matter any more for Miami Marlins
After a road trip filled with lost opportunities, the Miami Marlins have no shortage of excuses to which to point. If only they mattered any more.
Naming the one thing that went wrong on the Miami Marlins most recent road trip would be a challenge.
Frankly, you’d run out of fingers trying to guess. Old injuries, new injuries, bad decisions, bad luck, poor situational hitting, the usual comeuppance for penury … take your pick. And, as you might have noticed, plenty of those things can be argued to be largely out of the team’s control. In other words, plenty of potential for excuses. Some of them are even pretty reasonable.
Unfortunately, it just doesn’t matter anymore for the Miami Marlins.
Oh, sure, it’s tempting to cast about for them. I even made some excuses myself early last week, when the onus of last Monday’s 3-2 loss to Philadelphia fell squarely on the shoulders of manager Don Mattingly. There’s no question the Marlins should have gone 5-5 on the road trip, which would have felt much different than the limping home on life support they are doing heading into Tuesday’s series against Colorado.
But after another one-run loss last Wednesday, and a Mets series full of errors and runners left on base? That casting about for excuses just feels like so much wasted effort.
Because the thing is, the good team … the competent, well-intentioned organizations? They find ways to rise above the challenges. The Marlins had similar problems last season, and did improve their depth going into 2022. Just not enough. Too many corners cut, as problems can keep being traced back to either being unwilling to spend more money in the offseason, or unwilling to call up better performing prospects. Almost every problem the Miami Marlins have had in 2022 could have been solved (easily) if the organization had wanted to put in the work to prevent it.
Instead, unless the Miami Marlins organization does an immediate about face, fans are left facing another losing season. What’s worse, it’s another losing season that could have been prevented.
Miami’s luck has been somewhat terrible, sure, but, at some point, you need to make your own luck. Both Miami Marlins fans and players alike deserve better.