Marlins playing up to expectations during month of May

[Kevin Barral]

A 7-24 start in March/April quickly took the Marlins out of the 2024 postseason race, but many players on the roster have turned things around since then to make the team far more competitive.

After a putrid start to the season, the Miami Marlins currently find themselves at 16-33 on the season. Although they are on pace for the most losses in franchise history, the overall record doesn't truly reflect the talent that they have. In the month of May, the team is finally clicking, going 9-9 since the calendar flipped and showing improvement in every area.

Understandably, there were serious concerns about Miami's offensive production once the decision was made to trade NL batting champion Luis Arraez to the San Diego Padres. The Marlins lost their leadoff hitter, creating a hole in a lineup that was already struggling mightily even with his help. Fortunately, several underperforming veterans have gotten hot at the plate to make up for Arraez's absence.

Josh Bell, the most expensive player on the Marlins roster, has begun looking like his usual self. In the month of March/April, Bell slashed .181/.269/.285/.554 with three home runs and 10 RBIs. In the month of May, he has completely turned it around, slashing .328/.408/.522/.930 with three home runs and 15 RBIs.

"It wasn't like I was gonna take him out of games," said manager Skip Schumaker regarding Bell's slow start. "He's good on both sides of the plate. It's just a matter of time and we needed him to get going."

On Saturday, Bell took New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz deep for a three-run homer to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Marlins eventually won in extra innings.

On Monday, Bell delivered the walk-off hit himself, ripping a single through the infield with the bases loaded to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers.

Utility man Nick Gordon is a platoon player, mainly facing right-handed pitching. The recent scheduling has been favorable for him as the Marlins faced only three lefty starters in their first 18 May games. That has put Gordon in a position to start almost every single day in left field, and he's taken advantage of the consistent playing time.

In the month of March/April, Gordon slashed .177/.208/.338/.547 with three home runs and 12 RBIs. In May, Gordon is slashing .327/.352/.481/.833 with two home runs and six RBIs. Schumaker noted following Saturday's game that Gordon isn't putting as much pressure on himself to hit for power, yet he's still making quality contact, raising his average exit velocity from 86.5 mph to 89.2 mph.

The Marlins catching tandem has been extremely underwhelming offensively to begin the season, but this past weekend, both Nick Fortes and Christian Bethancourt hit home runs against the Mets. In the first month of the season, the catchers combined to hit 8-for-95 with five RBIs. They've improved to 13-for-54 with nine RBIs in May.

The trade of Arraez and injury absence of shortstop Tim Anderson cleared the way for Marlins waiver claim Otto Lopez to get an opportunity. After torching the Triple-A level, Lopez has made a smooth transition to the big leagues, slashing .296/.339/.519/.858 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and a 140 wRC+. He also leads all Marlins position players with 0.8 bWAR (tied with Bryan De La Cruz).

The Marlins have turned to Jazz Chisholm Jr. to be their new everyday leadoff hitter. Since the Arraez trade, Chisholm is slashing .286/.438/.492/.840 with two home runs and six RBIs in 16 games, closely resembling the production that made him an All-Star in 2022. 

In addition to these bats turning the corner, the Marlins' run prevention has been a lot better in May. Recently, their pitching staff threw three straight shutouts, becoming the first Marlins team in 19 years to do so.

Jesús Luzardo has posted a 1.54 ERA and 0.84 FIP in two starts since returning from the injured list. The Marlins have also benefited from the emergence of Ryan Weathers. The young lefty went eight innings against the Detroit Tigers and seven more against the Brewers on Monday, keeping games close while also helping the bullpen stay rested.

You can see the difference from a defensive standpoint. Marlins fielders combined for minus-20 outs above average in March/April, per Baseball Savant, by far the worst mark in MLB. Entering Tuesday, they are at plus-one OAA in May.

The Marlins have nine games still to play in May: two at home against the Brewers, then they go on the road to face the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres for three games apiece before returning to Miami on May 31 to host the defending World Series champs, the Texas Rangers.

View full article

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Even playing .500 baseball is great. Imagine if the team can maintain the .500 pace for the season (a tall order, I know). After the trading flurry that is likely to come, I think the final months of the season will be quite interesting and eye-opening. The new path is clearer and we're going to see true evaluations. Those ABs (and innings, to a lesser degree) can really push Bendix's agenda along. Let's see the young players have genuine opportunities and forego journeymen replacements that have no real part in the team's plans. I realize every situation is nuanced, but the current play of the Royals, Reds, and even Orioles shows that taking the harsh (rebuilding) medicine can work.