Archive for the 'Florida Marlins' Category

That post title isn’t entirely accurate because sometimes, he says things like “I’m Milton Bradley, you know what I’m saying.” And sometimes he also does really questionable things…

But for the Marlins purposes, Bradley makes way too much sense for next season. He’s on his way out in Chicago, as they’ve suspended him for the season. Can’t see any way he won’t be traded, and the Cubs can’t get a ton back for him now that they have no leverage. Why shouldn’t the Marlins make a run at him? I mean, I know he’s a “malcontent” and all that, but I don’t think he’s as bad as his reputation.

He obviously doesn’t handle his anger in stressful situations well, as shown with the bottle incident in LA in 2004 and with the ump in 2008 (who reportedly called him a “piece of shit”), but it’s not like he’s going after people for no reason. He’s created a self perpetuating cycle where people know they can get to him easily, so they try to get under his skin. I would guess he takes more shit than most players simply because he doesn’t handle it well.

But playing in Landshark Stadium mitigates those types of circumstances at least somewhat. Not a lot of pressure here, no media types needling him, and no fans shouting whatever the Cubs fans were shouting (you have to assume there were more than a few racial slurs from everything I’ve heard about the bleachers at Wrigley).

I think it makes a lot of sense for the Marlins to make a run at him.

My perfect world scenario is bring him in and bring Nick Johnson back. That gives you 4 legitimate .375+ OBP guys in your lineup. In this scenario you are trading Uggla, Cantu and Hermida and getting the Cubs to cover most of his 2010 salary (though none of his 2011 salary, which creates some obvious potential problems down the road).

Salary projection for 2010:

C John Baker $415,000 (.770 OPS)
1B Nick Johnson $5,500,000 (.840)
2B Emilio Bonifacio $415,000 (.630)
3B Chris Coghlan $405,000 (.780)
SS Hanley Ramirez $7,000,000 (.970)
LF Milton Bradley $2,000,000 (.850)
CF Cameron Maybin $405,000 (.750)
RF Cody Ross $4,200,000 (.790)
B Gaby Sanchez $415,000
B Wes Helms $950,000
B Ronny Paulino $880,000
B “Veteran 1B/LF Bat” $750,000
B De Aza/Jai/Raynor $405,000

SP Josh Johnson $5,500,000
SP Ricky Nolasco $4,250,000
SP Andrew Miller $2,000,000
SP Chris Volstad $415,000
SP Sean West $415,000
RP Matt Lindstrom $1,600,000
RP Reynel Pinto $850,000
RP Dan Meyer $415,000
RP Rick Vanden Hurk $415,000
RP Brian Sanches $415,000
RP Burke Badenhop $415,000
RP Tim Wood $405,000

$40,800,000

I don’t think any of those projections for the batters are unreasonable at all. That gives you a lineup with one major hole that can, conceivably be replaced in house if they want to take a chance with Gaby at 3rd and shift Coghlan to 2nd (unlikely). Otherwise, that looks like a pretty solid lineup top to bottom. I think you’ve got to expect that Milton and NJ are only going to get about 450 PAs a piece, so you basically need to hope BC can do a decent imitation of a starting major leaguer when Bradley goes down and hope the “Ross Gload” of 2010 can do the same.

With one absolute rock (Hanley) and two pretty good players who load up on OBP at premium offensive positions (Bradley and NJ) and a bunch of average or better for their position guys (Bake, CC, Cody), you can take the chance with actually going defense first at 2nd with Boner. It might hurt your offense (Well, it will hurt your offense), but then you’re going to be above average defensively everywhere on the infield except 3rd, where CC is going to be at least average with the bat and with the potential for more of what we’re getting this season rather than the slight step back I expect.

I like that team so much that we really don’t need to even worry about treading water next year. That could be a playoff team.

And actually, now that I think about it, Logan Morrison is probably ready to be cool against RHP right now at the major league level. So you use him to spell Bradley and NJ 3 times a week against RHP (Bradley doesn’t hit RHP as well). You get his feet wet at this level and hey, if he breaks out and starts bombing people you’ve got fantastic injury insurance if Bradley or NJ goes down for an extended period of time.

I’ve said it a couple of times already, but trying to buy low on Bradley and sending them some kind of package of B prospects makes so much sense for the Marlins that I’m going to be sad when he’s playing for, like, Philadelphia next year.

I feel like everytime I make a post game here, the Marlins lose a few more games than they need to, so I don’t want to make too big a deal here. Get in, get out, hope no one notices and the team keeps going (and hope nobody notices that this is mostly just an excuse for me to go to sleep soon because school is just killing me. Oh, hush!)

Josh Johnson showed why he’s one of the top starters in the majors on Wednesday.

Even without his best stuff, the right-hander was good enough to shut down the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cody Ross had three hits and drove in two runs for Florida, which has won 10 of 14 to stay in the playoff race. Ross extended his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest current streak in the NL, and was 5 for 12 in the series.

• Playoff Race

Florida (78-68) moved within four games of wild card-leading Colorado, which was at San Francisco on Wednesday night.

“This is a resilient team,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “They forget bad losses quickly and go on to the next game.”

Johnson (15-4) gave up nine hits but allowed just one run in his 23rd quality start of the season. He struck out five and walked none, improving to 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA in his last five starts.

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“They made good contact with the ball,” Johnson said. “I’d throw good pitches and they’d get hits. It was one of those days where I didn’t walk anybody. That was huge for me today.”

The Cardinals rallied in the ninth. Jason LaRue walked with one out and Mark DeRosa followed with a double to left. Gonzalez then replaced Brian Sanches with closer Leo Nunez, whose wildness got the Marlins into more trouble.

Nunez hit Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols to force in a run before coaxing Matt Holliday into a game-ending double play for his 22nd save in 28 opportunities.

“I really focused on throwing the fastball low and away,” said Nunez, who had hit only two batters in his previous 68 innings. “I just wanted to get the ground ball and I got it.”

Central-leading St. Louis fell to 1-5 on its nine-game homestand and lost back-to-back series for the first time since June 22-28 against the New York Mets and Minnesota.

Joel Pineiro (14-11) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings for St. Louis.

Eight of Florida’s first 10 batters reached safely. John Baker and Ross had RBI singles and Dan Uggla also drove in a run in the first with a fielder’s choice.

Johnson helped himself in the second, leading off with an infield single before eventually coming home on Jorge Cantu’s sacrifice fly.

Julio Lugo had an RBI single in the sixth for St. Louis, which has scored two or fewer runs in four of its last five losses.

“I’m not worried at all about our offense,” St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. “Good pitching stops good hitting. I really like this club we have.”

I was at work, so I didn’t get to watch it, but I’m bummed Maybin’s slowed down recently. Nice to see JJ pitched well despite not having his best stuff according to the story.
I followed it online and when Pujols came up with the bases juiced down by 4 in the bottom of the ninth, I almost knew what was coming. Hitting him might have been the best thing Nunez has done in weeks.

Josh Johnson wins the award, but like I said, don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to ruin the winning mood.

Cody Ross slumped into a cozy chair in the visiting clubhouse and, with many of his Florida teammates, watched the ninth inning of the NL East-leading Philadelphia’s game.

No matter the first bus back to the hotel was leaving in 20 minutes, the Marlins are in a playoff race. And boy, is it fun.

Ross hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning, Ricky Nolasco shut down the Mets into the seventh and the bargain-basement Marlins kept pace in the division with a 6-3 victory over the New York Mets.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look up there after every out in every inning. I just look up there and see what’s going on,” Ross said of scoreboard watching. “I know [the Phillies] tied it up, that they were up by two, and I knew right before we made the final out they were up by one. I mean you got a lot of time on your hands in the outfield.

“All that doesn’t matter if we’re not doing our own business,” he said before tuning into the end of the Phillies’ 6-5 win that kept their six-game lead in the division in tact.

Dan Uggla homered and Nick Johnson had a long RBI double as Florida, with a majors-low $37 million payroll, took their second straight from New York.

The past two Septembers, Florida played a big role in the Mets’ late-season collapses. This season, the Marlins are chasing a playoff spot. They entered Wednesday 5½ games behind Colorado in the wild-card race.

“It’s completely different, but I think we take it the same no matter what situation we’re in,” Nolasco said. “We’re just fortunate we’re in a situation to make the playoffs.”

Well, they’ve still got a chance at the playoffs, but it seems like every time the Marlins win, so do the teams in front of them. At this point, with 6 games remaining against them, the Marlins have to be looking at the Phillies more, especially with how awful their offense has been recently. It’s a long shot, but the season’s not dead by a long shot either.

It would be something if they could go into that final series against the Phillies within 3 games or so. That would be some absolute excellent drama. Not that anyone would notice, of course.

For battling his demons (the Mets, who have given him a lot of trouble in his career), it’s gotta be Ricky. A 6+ inning start is rare these days, so you take what you can get, and Ricky was practically a workhorse today compared to recent performances. Thanks, Enrique!

Brett Carroll is back with the big team in response to Nick Johnson’s retroactive DL stint. 

Unsuprisingly, Nick Johnson’s Hamstring injury has proven more serious than originally thought. This is the catch 22 with trading for NJ, of course.

Nice to have Brett’s arm back on the team, and maybe he can catch fire against LHP again like he did in June/July. That would be a nice boost, though Hermida has been playing extremely well recently and really slumped when he split time with Carroll last time. Hopefully he doesn’t crumble again.

The Marlins reached 11 hits, and had the benefit of two unearned runs, but they still lost ground in the standings.

Brian McCann tied a career high with five RBIs, including a tie-breaking two-run single in the eighth inning, to rally the Braves to a 7-5 win over the Marlins on Sunday afternoon in front of 30,478 at Turner Field.

The loss dropped the Marlins into third place in the National League East, one game behind the Braves and 7 1/2 in back of the Phillies with 38 games remaining.

Matt Diaz added four hits and he was a home run shy of the cycle. After taking the first game of the series on Friday night, the Marlins dropped the next two, finishing up a 2-4 road trip.

A day after having his career-high 16-game hitting streak snapped, Hanley Ramirez went 3-for-4, raising his NL-leading batting average to .361. But Jorge Cantu had his 11-game hit streak snapped on a hard-luck afternoon.

A pivotal play came in the eighth inning, after Ramirez led off with a bunt single, Cantu ripped a hard liner right at shortstop Yunel Escobar, who doubled up Ramirez at first with the score even at 5.

It was a struggle for right-hander Ricky Nolasco over 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander scattered nine hits, walked three, struck out four and threw 95 pitches.

Atlanta’s Derek Lowe gave up five runs, with three earned, in five innings.

Nolasco started off the road trip with a complete-game, three-hit, 6-2 win at Houston last Tuesday. In the remaining five games of the trip, four times a Florida starter was unable to pitch at least five full innings.

The Braves snapped the tie in the eighth. Kiko Calero, who gave up a run in the seventh, walked Omar Infante to begin the inning. Renyel Pinto replaced Calero and walked Kelly Johnson. Chipper Jones’ grounder advanced both runners into scoring position. With the infield in, McCann smacked a two-run single to right.

Ricky Nolasco struggled early, but the offense let him leave with a lead. Unfortunately, once Cristhian Martinez’s 1.1 innings were done, the rest of the pen decided they didn’t want to win the game, and Kiko Calero and Renyel Pinto both struggled with their control and gave away the game.

Hanley had another 3 hit game, and Chris Coghlan continued to be amazing at the top of the order, getting on base 3 times. Dan Uggla and Cody Ross also added two hit games, and the offense as a whole was pretty good. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get the big hit as the game progressed, and the bullpen just couldn’t hold it.

Maybe a little overuse for Kiko and Pinto? Pinto has pitched in 13 games in August alone. He’s got terrible control as it is, but being overused can’t help it.

Still…

Today’s “winner” is…

Being tired doesn’t get you out of the Scott Olsen Mugshot Memorial Award, Renyel.

Playoff chances are not looking good now. They weren’t ever too great (though I had my hopes), but now they look pretty slim. Gotta take care of things at home in the next few series, and losing another series will just about end the season.

We need Nick Johnson and Jorge Cantu back in the everyday lineup, please.

AAA — New Orleans
New Orleans 1, Salt Lake 0

Cameron Maybin – CF: 0-2, RBI, SO
Brett Carroll – LF: 0-3
Jai Miller – RF: 0-3, SO
Brett Hayes – C: 0-3, SO
Luis Ayala – RP: (S) IP, 0ER, K, 0BB, H, 0R

AA — Jacksonville
Jacksonville 4, Carolina 2

Bryan Peterson – LF: 1-4, R
Logan Morrison – 1B: 1-3, BB
Mike Stanton – RF: 2-4, HR, RBI, R, SO
Matt Dominguez – 3B: 0-2, R, 2BB
Christopher Leroux – RP: (S) .1IP, K, 0BB, H, 0R

Advanced A — Jupiter
Jupiter 8, Sarasota 4

Elih Villanueva – SP: (W) 7IP, 8K, 0BB, HR, 5H, R

A — Greensboro
Greensboro 7, Bowling Green 4

Isaac Galloway – CF: 2-5, 2RBI, 3B, R, SO
Thomas Hickman – LF: 3-3, RBI, 2B, BB

Short Season A — Jamestown
Jamestown 13, Vermont 0

Kyle Jensen – LF: 2-4, RBI, 2B, R

Rookie League — Marlins
Marlins 12, Mets 4

Marquis Cooper – CF: 1-5, R, SO
Marcell Ozuna – RF: 1-4, RBI, R, 2BB, 2SO

AAA — New Orleans
New Orleans 5, Salt Lake 0

John Raynor – DH: 1-3, RBI
Cameron Maybin – CF: 2-4, RBI
Brett Carroll – RF: 0-3, BB
Brett Hayes – C: 1-3, R
Tim Wood – RP: 2IP, 0ER, 3K, BB, H, 0R

AA — Jacksonville
Jacksonville 6, Carolina 3

Bryan Peterson – LF: 2-3, 2RBI, 3B, R, 2BB
Logan Morrison – 1B: 0-4, SO
Mike Stanton – RF: 0-2, RBI, R, BB, SO
Scott Cousins – CF: 0-2, 2BB
Matt Dominguez – 3B: 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, R

Advanced A — Jupiter
Jupiter 8, Sarasota 2

A — Greensboro
Greensboro 15, Bowling Green 3

Isaac Galloway – CF: 1-4, HR, 4RBI, 2R, BB, 2SO

Short Season A — Jamestown
No Game Today

Rookie League — Marlins
Marlins 12, Mets 4

Marquis Cooper – CF: 1-5, R, SO
Marcell Ozuna – RF: 1-4, RBI, R, 2BB, 2SO

Ricky Nolasco struck out 10 in his second complete game of the season and the Florida Marlins had 10 hits for the 14th consecutive game in a 6-2 win Tuesday night over the Houston Astros.

Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and Jeremy Hermida hit solo homers for the Marlins, who’ve won nine of 11.

Florida’s streak of 10-hit games is the longest since the 1937 St. Louis Browns reached the total in 15 straight, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Nolasco (9-8) retired 23 in a row after Carlos Lee’s two-run homer in the first inning. He threw 115 pitches to complete the fifth complete game by a Marlins’ pitcher this season.

The Astros lost for the sixth time in eight games after trading catcher Ivan Rodriguez to Texas earlier in the day.

Rookie Bud Norris (3-1) gave up five runs on nine hits in 5 2-3 innings to lose for the first time in four major-league starts.

Nolasco cruised after a shaky first inning.

Lance Berkman doubled off the center-field wall before Lee homered to left on the first pitch he saw. Lee has hit seven home runs with 27 RBIs in his last 28 games.

Hanley Ramirez led off the fourth with a single to left and later scored on John Baker’s sacrifice fly. Uggla then tied it with a solo homer to right, his 22nd of the season.

Lee drove a 2-1 pitch to the wall in left-center in the Houston fourth, but Cody Ross caught it on the warning track. Nolasco struck out Geoff Blum to end the inning, then fanned Hunter Pence and Chris Coste in the fifth.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch this game, as I was entertaining visitors from out of town, but I did receive this text message at 10:37 from my friend Eric, so I figured it went well:

<3 Ricky

So, yeah. Ricky is the CCHOTG. That’s pretty easy. He gave up two loud hits, a double and a home run, in the first inning, and didn’t let anything else happen after that.

Oh, Ricky. You so fine.

The offense picked up 10 hits or more for the 14th game, the longest such streak since the 1937 St Louis Browns, and are now 18 for their last 26, a .690 winning percentage. Hanley is just other worldly at this point, and if it wasn’t for the fact that the Cardinals have early 2000′s Barry Bonds playing first base, he’d be a no doubt MVP candidate. As it is, Hanley and his NL leading .360 (!!!!!!) batting average will probably have to settle for second. Though as his OPS creeps toward 1.000, Pujols’ season is looking less and less like a slam dunk.

As a side note, we’re on the verge of seeing 3 of the all time great seasons ever, with Joe Mauer currently leading the AL in batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage, Hanley putting up one of the most incredible seasons a SS has ever had, and Albert Pujols currently looking at the highest single season OPS since Barry Bonds in 04.
Jeremy Hermida also had 3 hits today including a home run, and Dan Uggla continued his recent good play with a home run. Jorge Cantu also added one. All of a sudden, the Marlins have 6 every day players hitting .270, and even Hermida has quietly bumped his average up to .262 and has actually hit .290 over his last 28 games, though the lack of XBHs is still frustrating.

You really have to be encouraged by this team’s recent play, and here’s something to raise your spirits even more. This has been a .600 winning percentage team since the horrific run in May, and has been more than a .600 winning percentage team if you remove May altogether. They have to win at a .600 clip to get to 90 from here on our, and really it doesn’t seem that crazy, especially with how the offense is clicking right now:

Month by Month
Split   W       L       RS      RA      WP

April   14      8       112     105     .636
May     9       20      119     161     .310
June    17      11      131     120     .607
July    14      10      104     88      .583
August  10      6       80      73      .625

Well, I kind of gave it all away in the headline, didn’t I?

But yes, Gaby Sanchez will be meeting the team in Houston tonight, implying that Johnson’s injury might be kind of serious, though good to see he’s not going on the DL quite yet. Still don’t expect to see Gaby get much playing time; the management is obviously not thrilled with what he’s shown.

And to make room, Rick Vandenhurk was sent down to AAA New Orleans. Not too surprising given his trouble with the homers, but still would’ve rather seen him stay up and Sean West go down. RVH has shown more than West in my opinion, and he’s more likely to continue to be somewhat successful. He’s kind of like Ricky was early on in the season, and those home runs should normalize. West is also at 130 innings, 30 more than he threw last season. Would’ve been nice to get a few more starts at AA and then shut him down.

Would like to see some more of this.

And lastly, Anibal Sanchez has been great in his rehab starts, so no surprise to see him get the call for Friday. The team is hoping he’ll be able to pitch at a somewhat successful level, something he hasn’t done since that magical run in 06. His control looks pretty good in his rehab starts, and he said he was hitting 95 in his last start, so let’s see what he can do.

AAA — New Orleans
New Orleans 3, Colorado Springs 1

Cameron Maybin – CF: 1-4, SO
Brett Carroll – LF-RF: 1-3, RBI, R, 2B, BB, SO
Gaby Sanchez – 3B: 0-1
Jai Miller – RF: 1-4, 3SO
Brett Hayes – C: 0-4, 3SO
Clay Hensley – SP: (W) 7IP, ER, 2K, 2BB, 4H, R
Luis Ayala – RP: (S) 2IP, 0ER, 2K, 0BB, 0H, 0R

AA — Jacksonville
Jacksonville 5, Carolina 3

Bryan Peterson – LF: 1-3, BB
Logan Morrison – 1B: 3-4, 2RBI, 2 2B, R
Mike Stanton – RF: 1-4, SO
Scott Cousins – CF: 0-4, 2SO
Matt Dominguez – 3B: 1-4, RBI
Anibal Sanchez – SP: 3.1IP, 2ER, 5K, BB, HR, H, 2R
Christopher Leroux – RP: (W) 2.2IP, 0ER, 3K, 0BB, 3H, 0R

Advanced A — Jupiter
Jupiter 2, Sarasota 9

A — Greensboro
Greensboro 5, Bowling Green 6

Thomas Hickman – LF: 0-2, 2BB, R
Kyle Kaminska – SP: (L) 2.2IP, 2ER, K, BB, 5H, 6R

Short Season A — Jamestown
No Game Today

Rookie League — Marlins
Marlins 1, Cardinals 6

Marquis Cooper – CF: 0-3, RBI, BB, SO
Marcell Ozuna – RF: 1-3, 2B, BB
Burke Badenhop – SP: (L) 2IP, 0ER, 3K, 2H, 3R