One Regend

Interesting strategy, but I am curious as to how that strategy will pan out against aggressive teams that swing early in the count (and often). That describes, well, pretty much every Major League team. If the book comes out on Marlins pitching against those teams, even if you throw the hardest 106+ mph four seam fastball, or a 20+ inch break slider, that pitch is getting crushed.

While it is just 2 games under his belt, I need to remind you that he already has a Passed Ball. He already has 7 Passed Balls in AAA this year. We haven't even concluded April yet, with 5 more months left to go. Yes, he called a good game with Max Meyer, but we can't just ignore his defensive shortcomings. A move to 1B is inevitable, be it this year or somewhere down the line. I can see them sending Simon/Pauley back down. Joe Mack is coming along nicely, but it's debatable if he's making his MLB Debut this year, as he's not on the 40 man roster. It's possible if he continues playing out of his mind, he very well could, but it's a long season. Right now, they don't have a whole lot of catching depth that doesn't involve a corresponding roster move, so it wouldn't make sense to cut Liam Hicks so early into the season. Come July, though, that would present a different scenario. DLS also has a wRC+ of 118 on the season thanks to a refined hitting approach, having a higher BB% and OBP. K's are a little concerning, but we said the same thing about Griffin Conine, and well, Griffin Conine produced at the MLB level just fine. We might as well just accept the fact pitching has been better than ever the past 5 years and hitters are just going to strike out more as a result. Honestly, I'm more concerned that DLS has only 1 HR to his name this season than his strikeout totals. But he has undoubtably improved in a lot of other areas, so it's just a matter of waiting for his power stroke to come back around.

I'm pleasantly surprised by this pickup. My only concern is, with how well Matt Mervis has been destroying baseballs, and with an inevitable move to 1B for Agustin (there's no way they're going to keep him behind the plate for the entire season, with how horrific his defense is.... right??)... if De Los Santos murders AAA and busts the door wide open for MLB, what will the Marlins do with Wagaman?

The entire offense is Agustin Ramirez, it looks like. Without him in the lineup, games will most likely end up looking like this. It's amazing what having a stud prospect will do to team chemistry.

Have you forgotten that Sandy's starts post-July in 2023 were more reminiscent of his 2022 Cy Young season? He was looking his usual dominant self since the start of July until he got injured. I'm hoping that his start today sparks a return to form. 6 innings and 3 runs against an offense that isn't great outside of Great American Ballpark isn't much, but hopefully that's the catalyst that gets him going again.

They could have waited until the deadline for a better return. Luzardo needed to prove he can stay healthy and competitive at the MLB level. He was neither in 2024. The Marlins traded him at the absolute lowest value. I was never sold on Starlyn Caba from the moment the trade was made, and even taking recency into account, it further cements my thoughts that this was a terrible mistake that will set this team back at least 3 years.

I missed the game entirely, so I didn't get to watch it. What were the velo readings on Sandy? This sounds like a statline where he's sitting 93. What even happened?

I said this before, and I'll say it again. Edward Cabrera should be thankful he's being given every opportunity to compete even with his chronic underachieving and inability to stay healthy. He's easily waiver wire material at this point in his career. It's one thing to constantly have blisters, but it's another thing entirely to come out and drop 2.3 mph and raise even more injury concerns. At some point, you have to wonder how much longer of a leash the Marlins can afford to have on him. Adam Mazur is knocking on the door.

...So why is George Soriano on the roster again? I have to imagine he's the first man out when Declan Cronin is ready to be reinstated off the IL.

I don't need to even guess. Matt Mervis is playing better baseball. Eric Wagaman has defensive flexibility and comes with a pedigree. Deyvision De Los Santos and Agustin Ramirez are both getting called up to see major league time at some point during this season, and I'll be betting that they will receive reps at 1B, as their "work" at 3B and C respectively leave much to be desired. This leaves Jonah Bride as the odd man out of this logjam.

DBacks win 2 of 3. MVP Corbin Carroll. The DBacks may be underachieving, but they are still a strictly better team than we are in every conceivable metric.

They also have to actually develop their hitting prospects. Having a killer rotation won't win you jack if the major league lineup can't hit and there's nothing in the farm system that will fix that.

That is a contract that I think is terrible from the moment it was signed, and will continue to think it's terrible when Guerrero approaches his Age 35 season (not even through age 40). This is a bloated mistake I hope the Marlins don't ever make. They've already made this mistake before with Giancarlo Stanton (that still had them paying the piper for post-trade) and I hope they don't make that mistake again. The lesson learned is to invest early. The fact the Marlins aren't even trying to negotiate something with Eury Perez by now is criminal, to say the least. He's saddled with a major injury. and he's still in the middle of rehab. Now's the perfect chance to strike a deal. You might have to part with more money than you'd like, but talent like this doesn't grow on trees. Lock him down now before he starts demanding a Gerrit Cole-like megadeal in Free Agency.

The first four innings, okay enough. The 5th inning? Yep, that's the true Tank Commander right there. Eating those innings so guys like Robby Snelling and Dax Fulton doesn't get exposed too soon.

It's because the bullpen has been taxed (only one starter went past 5 innings -- Max Meyer), and the Marlins needed fresh arms. With their current schedule, they don't need a 5th starter (who Bellozo is) until April 8th. At least that's what I think makes sense.

I think Dan Uggla has a strong case. Other than Castillo, Dan Uggla's production at 2B has gone largely uncontested. Want further proof as to how irreplaceable Dan Uggla was? Look at all of the 2Bs that have played the position since Dan Uggla left: Dan Uggla (2006-2010): 15.7 bWAR, 117 OPS+ Omar Infante (2011-12): 5.0 bWAR, 91 OPS+ Donovan Solano (2012-15) 0.1 bWAR, 75 OPS+ Dee Gordon (2015-17) 8.7 bWAR, 100 OPS+ Starlin Castro (2018-19) 2.9 bWAR, 97 OPS+ Jon Berti (2020) 0.9 bWAR, 102 OPS+ Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2021-2022): 4.6 bWAR, 104 OPS+ Luis Arraez (2023-24): 5.5 bWAR, 117 OPS+ Otto Lopez (2024-25 [To Date]): 2.6 bWAR, 91 OPS+ The only player who's able to even sniff Uggla's ballpark in terms of WAR is Dee Gordon, and it's not because of his bat, it's because of his baserunning and defense. The only player who's able to reach Uggla's territory in OPS+ was Luis Arraez and he was a rental. Jazz Chisholm Jr was the closest to break past Uggla's marks, but they've experimented with him far too much to anyone's liking, avoiding him against lefties way more often than they needed to, and forcing him into an unnatural CF because the Marlins were too cheap to go get an actual CF. To say they've been really missing Uggla's production at 2B is a total understatement.

Yeah, no. Hate to burst your bubble, Clay, but that's not how the season is going to unfold. The Pirates are just as much of a mess of an organization as the Marlins are. And all of that is attributed to Bob Nutting and his "efforts" to build a winning culture in Pittsburgh. With the exception of Paul Skenes and maybe Bryan Reynolds, not a single one of their players has ever played up to potential. Even Oneil Cruz could be so much better than what he has been the past couple of years. The fact the Marlins have won 3 out of 4 against the Pirates isn't about the Marlins being a better team than given credit for, it's about the Pirates beating themselves. We're facing the Mets next, and we're going to get clapped. We're not gonna fall right back to reality. We're going to crash face first into reality.

Cool win, but something has been disturbing me about these games. The Marlins have been letting the Pirates run wild on them on the basepaths. I don't know if this is the product of the noodly-armed catching defense, or if it's because the Marlins pitchers have been conditioned by their coaching staff to not bother holding their baserunners, but it's so weird seeing guys who aren't burners (see Joey Bart) run uncontested on the basepaths. This essentially means that every time there's a baserunner at first base, they are already in scoring position. This will bloat their LOB which is shockingly low in this three game sample. This kind of run prevention isn't sustainable. They're going to crumble to a real Major League team, not the walking breathing mediocrity that is the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Sandy Alcantara is good, but Paul Skenes is better. Pittsburgh has a bunch of noodly-armed batters in their batters box, but it's better than what we have in ours. So, no, our Opening Day losing streak will not be broken.

Caroline's job became way harder than ever before. 1. Sandy Alcantara has about 13 starts before he gets traded to a real team. 2. Eury Perez will get about 10 starts after returning from Tommy John surgery, and more than likely his innings will be monitored. That's about 23 games actually worth watching. Those are the 2 guys they have on their team that will bring butts to seats. That leaves 141 games that have no reason to be watched. I have no idea how she's going to pitch to the fans on why they should come to the ballpark when they are fielding a literally unwatchable dreck on the field.

The Los Angeles Angels and rushing prospects to MLB without giving them any proper seasoning. Name a more iconic duo.

Okay, I'm done being nice. I have always disagreed with your takes, but this one is so bad it's actually impressive. Both strike out a lot, yes, but that's the only thing they share in common. Lewis Brinson throughout his entire career has never made contact with baseballs. And while Connor Norby has struggled with that, here's the part that really separates the two: Connor Norby has actually put up results. Tell me when at any point in Brinson's entire career he's contributed anything. He's not a perfect player by any means, but to compare him to Lewis Brinson is straight up just outlandish. You should be more upset that Kyle Stowers made the team despite many COFs playing their tail off to earn that spot, and you should be more upset that this shows that this regime is making the same exact mistakes the previous regime made. Come back to me when Connor Norby puts up 4 consecutive seasons of 72 wRC+ or lower despite being given an incredibly long leash of 1056 plate appearances.

Why even have players to root for? Let's pencil Stowers in into the opening day roster, even though he has proven time and time again that he looks overmatched against major league pitching. Actually, calling it major league pitching is a compliment; he was struggling against LONGSHOTS. Heriberto played his tail off this spring. He earned the spot handily. Why didn't he make the opening roster? It's not like the 40 man roster has every player that is actually worth keeping. It's not like they need Brett de Geus or Luarbart Arias. This team is literally unwatchable. We have about 13 starts of Sandy Alcantara before he gets traded, and about 10 starts of Eury Perez. That's like 23 games actually worth watching... out of 162. Horrible.

We say Max Meyer struggled last year, but that is only partially true. What we always neglect to mention was he actually had a strong start to 2024. Notable among these starts is the third start (and final start before he got injured.) That was an Atlanta lineup. And he carved those hitters for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It seemed like he was getting better and better as the season went along. ...And then the Marlins inexplicably demoted him. This is the exact kind of move that can ruin prospect development. If he never recovers his career from this point onward, we WILL circle back to this move later. But for now, let's continue. ...And then he got injured long-term. And then he finally came back. ...And then it became clear that the demotion and injury disrupted his rhythm and wildly threw off his mechanics. Yes, he did struggle last year, but for the latter half of the year, and through no fault of his own. To only say he only struggled last year was disingenuous. Those first few starts are enough to show us what his true talent level is.

Regardless, our non-existant pitching depth is being tested. If I had to guess who's taking the place of Weathers, instead of calling up Robby Snelling, I can see them calling up a fellow lefty Patrick Monteverde. He struggled last year, but he's 27 years old and has very little left to prove at the minor league level. He's a platoon version of Valente Bellozo, so, get ready for 88 mph meatballs.