MLB Team Outlook: Florida Marlins
Major League Baseball is now nearing the end of regular season and teams are striving hard to cement their spots for the playoffs. Florida Marlins, however, have failed to impress this season and are rated among the five worst-performing teams this year.
The Marlins are drawn in the National League East division along with League leaders Philadelphia Phillies and Wild Card top-candidates Atlanta Braves but their performance has not been anywhere near the top two teams.
The Phillies, with an average batting line-up, have managed a run differential of 158 thus far and the Braves are going strong too, adding 70 more runs than they have given away. The Marlins, on the contrary, have leaked 79 more runs than they have scored,
highlighting their sorry state this season.
The Marlins are placed at the bottom of the NL East division and chances of improvement are bleak this season as they are at least 3.5 games behind fourth-placed New York Mets and a massive 26 games behind Philadelphia. A major reason for their lacklustre
performance this season has been their inability to convert their home fixtures into wins, managing just 25 in 66 games. The 41 losses are looming their home record this season and this needs to be worked out if a better performance is an aim next year.
Florida has been decent playing on the road with a winning percentage of slightly more than .500. Had this been their overall percentage, they would have been placed at least third in their division which, given the form of the top two, would not have been
a poor finish. However, their win-loss record for the season currently stands at 58-72, a winning percentage of just .446.
Apart from Mike Stanton, no batter has impressed on the home-plate for the Marlins. The right fielder has amassed 69 runs for the Marlins thus far, 30 of which have been home-runs. He has helped the Marlins in producing runs too and 77 RBI efforts are worthy
evidence to advocate his case. Although his batting average is low at .261, his slugging percentage of .546 is a gain for the Marlins in a season where the team has not enjoyed much success. The Marlins can build a strong line-up around Stanton for the next
season where they would want to aim at a better finish than this season.
The Marlins have not been impressive from the mound either and their dreary form can be gauged from the fact that their ace pitcher Anibal Sanchez has an earned-run average of 4.01 for the season with a win-loss record of 7-6 to his credit thus far. Although
he has struck-out 163 batters to date, his accuracy has not been the best this season.
Ricky Nolasco has been the other notable pitcher from the rotation with nine wins and as many losses against his name this season. However, he too has struggled with accuracy and has leaked runs at an average of 4.30. The Marlins would want to work on their
accuracy to attain substantial improvement for their next campaign.
The Marlins have managed to record a sole win in their last seven encounters which include a 4-0 series whitewash by San Diego Padres on the road. The Marlins have a tough schedule for September and it will be vital for them to experiment various combinations
in this stretch.
Note: Stats included in this feature are as of August 25, 2011.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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