With bar higher than ever, Miami Marlins must respond

The bar for success has arguably never been higher than it is right now in South Florida sports. Can the Miami Marlins respond?

In case you missed it, South Florida, the Miami Marlins are playing some baseball right now.

What’s more, it’s been winning baseball. The best baseball they have played this late into a full season since 2016. Interestingly enough, they have been doing it while getting very little from the two players that were supposed to carry this team. Sandy Alcantara has been very up and down, while Jazz Chisholm has just been very hurt … again. If those two can finish the season strong, though? Combine that with the rest of this roster, and this Miami Marlins team should keep it interesting all season long.

Of course, it’s fair to ask if “keeping it interesting” is even enough anymore by South Florida sports standards.

The Miami Heat? In the NBA Finals, for the second time in four years. The Florida Panthers? In the Stanley Cup Finals, for the first time since 1996. The Miami Dolphins? Back in the playoffs, and favored to make a much deeper run next time around. Even college basketball made national headlines, as 50% of the Mens Final Four was comprised of South Florida based teams, thanks to the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Atlantic University Owls. Oh, and just for good measure, the University of Miami women’s team made the Elite Eight.

Certainly, there have been plenty of times in the Miami Marlins past that one of the local teams has shown up the rest of the market. Putting aside the fact that Miami has always been and still is a football town in its heart of hearts, there have been moments. There was that other Stanley Cup run. Shaq did come to the Heat to join up with Dwyane Wade, and actually won a title. Four years later, with LeBron playing the Shaq role, Miami became the center of the NBA world for four years.

However, all of those standout moments generally happened when everyone else was down. Or, at the very least, closer to equally disappointing than equally excellent. Times when there was somewhere else to hide. If nothing else, with only a handful of exceptions, the Miami Marlins have always been able to say to their critics, “Hey now, at least we’re not the Panthers.”

No longer. Pick a local team. All of them have either one of the best players in the sport, one of the best coaches, are actually playing for a championship right now, or some annoying mix of all three. More frustrating still from a Marlins perspective, in the case of the Heat and Panthers, is that they have seemingly done more with less. This wasn’t supposed to happen (as you might have heard, those teams were No. 8 seeds). Yet here they are, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. When was the last time a Marlins team could claim that?

Which means it has never been more essential that the Miami Marlins step up and answer the bell.

No, that does not mean they have to deliver South Florida a third World Series championship. What it does mean though is that the Marlins absolutely, categorically, and imperatively must at least stay over .500 in June and July. As these magical postseason runs conclude for the Heat and Panthers, the Marlins have to be there ready to grab the baton as a winning ball club, fighting for or in possession of a Wild Card spot. Fumble that baton though, and battle tested Marlins know all too well how that story goes:

Fans will cheerfully just turn their attention to Dolphins scrimmages, eagerly awaiting August and the start of training camp.

The Marlins cannot let that happen. The immediate disinterest part, not training camp in general. Although it would be a neat trick if they could somehow stop the Dolphins from releasing any practice reports or practicing at all between now and September. The bulk of the Marlins’ June schedule is laughably light, highlighted by a nine game stretch starting this weekend against some of the worst teams MLB currently has to offer.

It’s a perfect springboard for South Florida’s baseball team to look good just as South Florida is starting to pay more attention. The Marlins need to keep it going. Keep it going on the field, and keep trying to upgrade. Nothing fires up a fanbase like a trade, and that’s especially true of a fanbase that has long been skeptical of their front office’s interest in winning.

Again, this Marlins season doesn’t even necessarily have to result in a playoff berth when all is said and done. What does have to happen though is that the Marlins spend the summer in a position to believably get that playoff berth. That they make the best effort they can to be a part of what has been a ,without hyperbole, historical run of success for South Florida sports over the past year.

Will the Miami Marlins get to sit at the cool kids’ table? Or will they be left out, laughed at more than ever?

If Bruce Sherman is serious about turning around the fortunes of his franchise, he needs to do all he can to make sure it’s the former.