It’s Time for Volstad to Step Up

The Marlins will hand the ball to Chris Volstad tonight against the Dodgers for the middle game of this three-game series.  Volstad is going into tonight’s start with a 1-1 record and an ERA of 6.60 in three starts.  With those types of numbers, you would think that the Marlins have no chance to win this contest.  To make matters worse, the Marlins will oppose Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw.  Kershaw was one out away from a complete game against the Braves in his last start.  He ultimately received a no decision, allowing three runs on five hits, four walks and seven strikeouts in eight and two-thirds innings against Atlanta.

Last night the Marlins made an improbable comeback off of Dodgers’ closer Jonathan Broxton.  I felt that it was extremely important to take the first game of this series.  Throughout the game, the only Marlin who was able to solve Jon Garland was Chris Coghlan.  Coghlan homered twice off the veteran right-hander.  Nolasco pitched a decent game allowing three runs on seven hits in six and one-third innings.  Nolasco left the game in the seventh inning with runners on second and third with one out.  Ryan Webb came into the game but could not hold the lead.  The Dodgers tied the game on a ground ball to second base and then took the lead on a single up the middle.  This was the second blown save from the bullpen in the last two days.  Hensley also blew a 3-1 lead in Sunday’s game against the Rockies.  The Dodgers scored an insurance run off of Marlins’ reliever Edward Mujica in the eighth inning that seemed, at the time, to have put the nail on the coffin. 

In an inexplicable move by Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly, Vicente Padilla came into the game to relieve Jon Garland.  Despite the fact that the Dodgers’ bullpen has not gotten to a great start, there should have been someone else pitching for them in the eighth inning.  In any event, Padilla allowed a leadoff walk to pinch hitter Scott Cousins and a single to Coghlan.  Originally, I thought that Infante’s job was to bunt the runners over but as the at-bat unfolded, it didn’t look like he was bunting.  Well, on the third pitch of the at-bat, Infante made a poor attempt at what looked to me to be a drag bunt.  The Dodgers were able to get Cousins out at third base and keep the runners on first and second base.  Gaby Sanchez proceeded to line an 0-2 pitch right back up the middle for an RBI single to cut the deficit to one run.  If there is one guy that deserves a lot of recognition early on this season, it’s Gaby Sanchez.  It seems like every time this guy comes up to the plate, he finds a way to knock in a run in a crucial point in the game.  That, my friends, is what we call clutch-ability.

The next play for the Fish was not a very smart one.  With one out and runners on first and second base, Mike Stanton hit a medium fly ball to centerfielder Matt Kemp.  Once Kemp caught the ball, Infante decided to go the tag up and take third base.  I’m not sure what he was thinking.  With two outs, you never want to make the last out at third base.  Infante was already in scoring position at second base just in case Stanton did not deliver which was the case.  Aside from that, Kemp has a cannon for an arm, so why chance it?  Bottom line, it was one of those bonehead plays where had the Marlins lost the game, this situation would have been magnified to the nth degree.

Another member of the Marlins who does not get any credit at all is Brian Sanches.  Sanches pitched a perfect ninth inning to keep the score at 4-3 into the bottom of the ninth.  Sanches has pitched 13.2 scoreless innings so far this season.  He has only allowed one hit, four walks and 10 strikeouts in his impressive start to the season.  He has undoubtedly been the team’s unsung hero this year and I think if you ask him, he wouldn’t mind one bit.

As luck would have it, the Marlins got to a struggling closer in Jonathan Broxton.  Coming into Monday’s game, Broxton had amazingly converted all five of his save opportunities but had an ERA of 4.66.  As I mentioned before, the Dodgers’ bullpen has not been serviceable so far this season, so a comeback was not out of the question.  This was especially the case with Greg Dobbs and John Buck due up in the ninth inning.  Well, Broxton struck out Dobbs and got Buck to ground out to first base.  With two outs and no one on and Emilio Bonifacio up, the Marlins’ chances did not look particularly great.  I thought Broxton was going to give Bonifacio a steady diet of fastballs up in the strike zone to get him to chase.  Broxton did indeed throw fastballs to Bonifacio, but only two of those pitches were for strikes.  Bonifacio worked a rare walk and brought up the struggling Hanley Ramirez.  Manager Edwin Rodriguez gave Ramirez the day off on Monday after starting the nine-game home stand 1-for-21.  Ramirez lined a 2-1 hanging slider to right field for a base hit and moved Bonifacio to third base.  It was good to see Hanley get a hit at that moment.  Hopefully that at-bat was a sign of good things to come for Hanley in the near future. 

Now for the lucky part of the inning, Scott Cousins hit an 0-1 changeup for a weak ground ball to shortstop Jaime Carroll who for some reason decided to look up a little too soon and allowed the ball to get under his glove and into left field.  In these situations for a winning ballclub, it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good.  Now, I think that had Carroll come with the ball cleanly, it still would have been a close play at first base given Cousins’ speed.  Nonetheless, the Marlins cashed in on the Dodgers misfortune.  The Dodgers decided to intentionally walk Coghlan after falling behind 2-0 in the count.  So up walks Omar Infante with two outs and the bases loaded.  Again, Infante did not have a great eighth inning at the plate or on base, so this was his chance to redeem himself.  Last year with the Braves, Infante seemed to have a flair for the dramatic and so far with Marlins, he had not repeated that success until Sunday’s game against the Rockies when he hit a two-out, three-run triple off of Ubaldo Jimenez.  Infante extended his modest hitting streak to six games with a well-hit ball to left field that the left fielder Jerry Sands completely misplayed.  Even though Sands misplayed the ball, it would have been tough to make a play on the ball anyway because it was hit so well.

It’s worth repeating that this was an important game to take.  The Marlins going into Monday’s game had not had much success against Jon Garland in the past.  Garland was 5-1 against the Fish going into Monday’s start.  The other reason why last night’s game was important is because Kershaw will take mound tonight for the Dodgers.  I’m not saying that it’s an automatic loss, but I do expect the Marlins to have some trouble against the lefty.  On the Marlins side of the pitching matchup, the team hopes that Volstad can continue the success by the starting rotation during the home stand.  So far during the home stand, the rotation has gone 4-1 with an ERA of 2.86.  In his last start against the Pirates, Volstad received a win despite allowing five runs on four hits in five and one-third innings.  The 6-8, 232 pound right-hander is 2-3 with an ERA of 4.91 in five career starts against the Dodgers.  His best start against the Dodgers was actually his first major league start.  Volstad allowed a run on five hits, one walk and six strikeouts in eight and two-thirds innings in Los Angeles.  The Marlins are playing their best ball right now winning nine out of their last 11 games and going 6-1 on their nine-game home stand so far.  It’s a great time to be a Marlins fan.      

Marlins Off to Hot Start But Are Not at Full Potential

The Marlins are off to one of the better starts in franchise history after finishing a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates last night at Sun Life Stadium.  The team is 11-6 and just half a game out of first place in the National League East behind the Philadelphia Phillies.  The team’s current record matches only the 2009 Florida Marlins for the best start to a season after 17 games.  Not even the 1997 squad finished with at record of 11-6 after 17 games into the season.  Despite the fact that it’s only 17 games into the season, there has been major improvement in the team’s play during this stretch.

Last year’s Achille’s heel was both the defensive side of the ball and the bullpen.  The Marlins ranked dead last in fielding percentage last season and committed the fifth most errors in baseball with 123.  The bullpen blew a whopping 25 saves last season and combined to post and ERA of 4.37.   So, the front office’s priority this past offseason was to address both the defense and the bullpen.  The team parted ways with fan favorite second baseman Dan Uggla, outfielder Cameron Maybin and pitcher Andrew Miller, but received a lot more in return.  The club acquired second baseman Omar Infante, catcher John Buck, starting pitcher Javier Vazquez and a plethora of relievers.  The relievers include left-handers Mike Dunn and Randy Choate, Ryan Webb, and Edward Mujica.  As a result of these offseason moves, the Fish are in the middle of the pack in the league with 10 errors and have posted a league-leading bullpen ERA of 1.63 in their first 17 games so far.

Even though the Marlins have gotten off to such a great start, I still don’t think this team has reached its full potential.  The team is still missing production from their star shortstop Hanley Ramirez.  In the 17 games this season, Hanley his hitting just .222 and has not homered in 54 at-bats. The other star player who is struggling out of the gate is outfielder Mike Stanton.  Stanton missed most of spring training with a strained right quad and sat out for about the first week of the regular season with a tight left hamstring.  These injuries certainly have something to do with his slow start and we can expect his bat to eventually make an impact in the lineup.  Stanton homered for the first time this season last night against the Pirates.  The sky is the limit once Hanley and Stanton get on a roll.

The only reason the Marlins have been scoring runs is because of the production from Gaby Sanchez, Logan Morrison and John Buck.  All three of these hitters have combined to hit .300(54/180) with 6 home runs and 27 RBI.  Unfortunately for the Marlins, Logan Morrison was just placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left foot injury.  This is a huge blow for the club but the Marlins do have an outfielder by the name of Scott Cousins who is more than capable of taking over the everyday duties in left field.  In his first start for Morrison last night, Cousins hit a grand slam for his first career home run.  The new and improved Emilio Bonifacio has paid dividends for this team early on.  Going into tonight’s contest against the Rockies, Bonifacio was hitting .324 in 37 at-bats.  Bonifacio has played all three outfield positions as well as some third base early on this season.  Bonifacio already has three outfield assists and has committed just one error.

Going into the season, the Marlins were counting on their starting rotation to make huge contributions this season.  Well, the rotation has not disappointed after the team’s first 17 games.  Josh Johnson has picked up where he left off last season.  The 2010 National League ERA leader has dominated early on this season going 3-0 with an league-leading ERA of 1.00 in 27 innings.  Johnson’s early success has included taking a no-hitter into the seventh innings against the Mets on opening night and taking another no-hitter into the eighth inning in Atlanta a couple of starts ago.  Ricky Nolasco has had success this season going 2-0 with an ERA of 3.00, has walked only two batters and 18 strikeouts in 27 innings.  This dynamic one-two punch in the rotation is becoming one of the best in the business.  The remainder of the rotation is solid and is capable of great things.  Anibal Sanchez has placed as a legitimate number three-type pitcher in the Marlins’ rotation.  Veteran Javier Vazquez has gotten off to a slow start but his statistics as a National League pitcher indicate that his season will improve.  The weakest link in the Marlins rotation is Chris Volstad.  Volstad has shown flashes of excellence since his debut back in 2008 but most of time the right-hander can’t seem to put it together for two consecutive quality starts if his life depended on it.  It’s unfortunate, but if it gets to the point where he can’t get the job done at all, then the club may look into calling up Elih Villanueva, Sean West, or Alex Sanabia to take his place in the rotation.

There is no doubt that the Marlins have gotten off one of the hottest starts in franchise history, but team has yet to click on all cylinders.  When the Marlins finally get production from Hanley Ramirez and Mike Stanton and Chris Volstad, the team should be a force to be reckoned with for the entire season.  Until then, we should enjoy the team’s success and not take it for granted.  

Marlins Set to Take On Familiar Faces

When the Marlins arrive at Turner Field today, they will be facing their division rivals the Atlanta Braves.  The differences between the Braves of the past and this year’s club are that Bobby Cox is no longer the manager and their second baseman called Sun Life Stadium his home for the last five seasons.

This past offseason, the Marlins decided to part ways with their popular second baseman Dan Uggla after not being able to reach an agreement on a contract extension.  The organization shipped Uggla to the Atlanta Braves and received infielder Omar Infante and lefty reliever Michael Dunn.  A few months after the trade, Uggla and the Braves agreed to a five-year $62 million contract.   

So far, the trade has worked out for both teams.  Uggla has clubbed two solo home runs for the Braves but is hitting .158 in his first ten games.  Infante has shown his what he can do with his glove by not committing an error in his first nine games in a Marlins’ uniform.  The final piece of the trade, lefty reliever Dunn, has already appeared four games with the Fish and has allowed just one hit so far.  Even though these teams are just nine and ten games into the season respectively, they will continue to expect great things from their acquisitions.    

Going into 2010 season, the Bobby Cox era was going to come to an end regardless of how the Braves finished.  Cox had entrenched himself as the skipper in Atlanta as part of two different stints for 26 seasons.  He led the Braves to 13 consecutive division titles and a World Series Championship in 1995.  Luckily for Cox, the Braves made it to the postseason for the first time since 2005.  Once the Braves were eliminated from the postseason the search for a new manager had begun.  After just two days from elimination, the organization decided to go with former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez to be the Braves manager for the next three seasons.  Gonzalez was fired by the Marlins last season after starting the season 34-36.  He had also served as the third base coach under Bobby Cox in Atlanta from 2003 to 2006. 

Despite the connections between these two clubs, the Marlins will have to stay focused throughout the three game series.  Chris Volstad, Josh Johnson, and Ricky Nolasco will be facing their old teammate Dan Uggla for the first time in their careers.  This should be an interesting scenario because throughout the last five seasons, this pitching staff has not had to worry about pitching to one of the most feared hitters in the National League.  The key for these pitchers is to keep the ball down and away, don’t try to sneak a fastball up and inside of the strike zone.  You don’t want to give Uggla a ball that he can drive out of the park especially when you have “Marlins killers” Chipper Jones (.302, 39 HR, 157 RBI vs. Marlins) and Brian McCann (.274, 15 HR, and 62 RBI vs. Marlins) hitting in front of him.

The Braves will also send Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, and Brandon Beachy to the mound against the Marlins in this series.  In order to be successful against these guys, the Marlins are going to have to continue to show patience at the plate and make these guys throw a lot pitches.  Of the three starting pitchers, Hudson has the most success against he Fish.  In 19 career starts, Hudson has gone 9-3 and posted an ERA of 2.84.  Hanson has had some success against the Fish by going 3-1 with and ERA of 3.13 in six starts.  Beachy will be making his first ever appearance against the Marlins on Thursday.  

It is imperative that the Marlins win at least two games of the three games in this series for a couple of reasons.  The first reason being that this young Marlins club needs to set the tone against the Braves if they are going to compete.  Last season, the Marlins finished with a losing record of 7-11 against them.  The second reason why the Marlins need to take at least two games of this three game series is because their next stop will be in Philadelphia.  Unlike last season, I actually like the Marlins’ chances in this three game series against the Braves.  Their vastly improved plate discipline and bullpen should make for an exciting series in Atlanta. 

Fish Need to Play Better This Week

The Marlins experienced some highs and some lows this past weekend against the Mets.  On Friday night, every thing seemed to be going right for the Marlins.  Josh Johnson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, John Buck got his Marlins career off to a great start with a 2 for 4 game including a grand slam, the bullpen only allowed just one hit in two and two-thirds innings, and the defense was flawless.  The only negative from Friday’s Opening Night game was that outfielder Mike Stanton left in the fifth inning with a tight left hamstring. 

Saturday night was a bittersweet game for the Fish.  Ricky Nolasco pitched a great game allowing two runs on seven hits, did not walk and batter and recorded four strikeouts in seven innings.  The Marlins’ bats definitely missed Stanton in the lineup.  The Marlins got off to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, but were not able to score until the ninth inning.  Leo Nunez came into the ninth inning of the game to keep the game tied at two runs apiece.  Nunez started off the inning by walking the leadoff man on four pitches.  After two short groundouts, the runner was at third base with two outs.  Nunez proceeded to allow a two-out RBI single to catcher Josh Thole on a 1-0 count.  Thole has the reputation of being a slap hitter, so I’m not sure why Nunez left the pitch up and on the right of the strike zone to the left-handed hitter.  In my opinion, if you have a runner in scoring position and two outs, the pitcher should pitch inside to the left handed hitter.  By jamming the hitter with inside pitching, it would force the batter to hit a groundball to an infielder for an out. 

In any event, the Marlins did come back to tie the game in the ninth inning with a two-out RBI single from pinch hitter Greg Dobbs off of Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez.  After Dobbs tied the game at three runs apiece, Rodriguez walked Chris Coghlan on four pitches to load the bases for Omar Infante.  Rodriguez had thrown a first-pitch fastball to five of the first six hitters, so the chances of him throwing a first-pitch fastball to Infante were really good.  Well, Rodriguez did throw a first-pitch fastball for a strike to Infante.  There are a couple of ways Infante could have approached the at-bat.  The first approach Infante could have taken was an aggressive approach.  Just like Dobbs hit Rodriguez’s first-pitch fastball up the middle to tie the game, Infante could have done the same.  The other approach is the more patient approach.  After Rodriguez had thrown four pitches out of the strike zone to Coghlan, Infante was probably thinking that he wasn’t going to swing at anything until Rodriguez could show him that he can throw a strike.  Infante proceeded to swing at Rodriguez’s second pitch, which was a curveball low and away that he popped up to second base.  It’s one of those things that happen, but I thought Infante was going to take the aggressive approach and swing at the first pitch.  The Marlins eventually lost the game 6-4 in 10 innings.

Sunday’s game was a disaster for the Marlins.  Veteran Javier Vazquez made his first start in a Marlins’ uniform and did not have his best stuff.  He pitched only two and one-third innings allowing four runs on six hits, walked five batters and only struck out one batter.  That was not what we were expecting out of Vazquez this season.  My hope is that he regroups and has a much better outing in his next start.  The offense was anemic against knuckle-ball pitcher R.A. Dickey.  The Fish managed to score only one run on five hits and struck out seven times in six innings against Dickey.  The Marlins did have an opportunity to come back but they were not able to.  The bullpen did a decent job on Sunday.  Edward Mujica, Brian Sanches, and Ryan Webb combined to pitch five and two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball.  Randy Choate, on the other hand, allowed two runs on one hit, walked two, and struck out one batter.  Choate also committed an error in the inning.  The Marlins pitchers combined to walk nine batters in the game.  The Marlins also committed their first three errors of the 2011 season on Sunday.  Throwing errors by Emilio Bonifacio and Hanley Ramirez brought in a couple of runs to score and Choate’s error eventually scored.

After a somewhat disappointing weekend series against the Mets, the Marlins will face the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros this week.  The Marlins need to win the majority of the next six games because after this weekend’s series in Houston, the Marlins will be traveling to Atlanta and Philadelphia for six games.  Because the Marlins failed to set the tone this weekend, they will have to make a statement this week.  Anibal Sanchez makes his first start of the 2011 season today against the Nationals.  In his career against the Nationals, Sanchez is 5-0 with an ERA of 2.28 in 13 starts.