Multiple heroes fuel Marlins’ success
Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 12:51 PM
Florida’s fast start really shouldn’t be a surprise. The Marlins played nine of their first 12 games against Atlanta and Washington, the weak underside of the NL East, and they won all nine. BTW: Did anyone ever imagine the Braves being referred to as weak again?
The Fish have the vast majority of their lineup back, and a rotation filled with upside. This blog was shocked at the lack of respect afforded the Fish by noted prognosticators. (Shameless plug: Check the archives for on Feb. 18, I blogged that the Marlins were one of the NL’s top four teams).
Now their living up to my prediction might be a stretch, but the Fish have started the season with the look of a winning team (they won 84 games last year with basically one and a half reliable arms in the rotation). Josh Johnson, superb in the second half of 2008, has the look of an ace. And last year’s top arm, Ricky Nolasco (15-8, 3.52), isn’t far behind. Matt Lindstrom has spent two years interning for the closer’s role and appears, at 29, to be ready for the full baptism by fire.
There are, however, questions with Florida to be sure.
Can Lindstrom handle the ninth inning in the heat of a pennant race?
Can the rotation stay healthy (first blow of the season came Monday night when Andrew Miller was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique. The rib injury is expected to keep him sidelined until mid May.
Can rookie Cameron Maybin handle center field on a daily basis?
Can Hanley Ramirez be the lead player for a postseason team?
Can Emilio Bonifacio sustain his fast start as his speed could make him the Marlins’ next Juan Pierre, an essential piece to a winning team in this era?
While the Marlins charter their course through this season against the backdrop of a clear future in Miami (a new $515 million, 37,000-seat retractable roof stadium has finally been approved), their early play has already produced some answers. Some key words come from Rich Waltz, the Marlins savvy television announcer, who hits on two key areas: Improved defense with Maybin in center field, and Jorge Cantu, having moved to first base, providing clutch hitting from the cleanup spot.
But another comment from Waltz struck me as an omen of good things for the Fish. He said they “have had a different hero every night.” Rare is a postseason team that doesn’t feature that characteristic. Every winning team I broadcast for fit into that category.
One example: The 1993 Giants featured the greatest single season I have ever seen from a player, Barry Bonds, yet their hallmark was an unending series of contributions from bench players, journeymen called up from the minors as injury replacements, and pitchers scooped off the discard pile. That team could not have won 103 games without Bonds’ great year, but neither could it have played to that level without a myriad cast of heroes.
So the Marlins can look at their torrid start, and say they’ve achieved it with little contribution from Ramirez. They can boast an early edge in division play. There is no doubt the road through New York and Philadelphia will be daunting. But I know from experience, and suspect the Marlins know as well, that the “different hero every night” quality is contagious. It can carry a team through a summer. At least this start gives everyone reason to realize the NL East is not just another Phillies-Mets battle.
FIVE SWINGS:
1. YOU NEVER KNOW HOW A NEW STADIUM…plays until the real games begin. All the talk of home runs at the new Yankee Stadium brings back memories of the 2000 opening of AT&T Park in San Francisco. Fearful that their short right-field dimension would play as a home run paradise, the Giants commissioned a 25-foot high wall. Architects can design, but they cannot predict. Not until the season began, did it become apparent that the ball didn’t carry to right field in San Francisco. Now in its tenth season, the AT&T Park is well known as death for left-handed hitters not named Bonds. In New York, they need to play a full season in the new Yankee Stadium, assess the park’s characteristics, and then decide whether to make any changes to the dimensions – if possible.
2. AND THE YANKEES ARE WORRIED…about Chien-Ming Wang. An essential pitcher to their World Series hopes, he has been horrid in his first three starts. Without his sinker, and in a ballpark playing small, Wang has been crushed. And therein lies the issue with HOW a ballpark plays. It has a huge impact on a pitching staff. Don’t think that every pitcher in the Yankees’ system isn’t watching these early games with some discontent.
3. AND THE GIANTS WERE WORRIED…about Tim Lincecum. Word leaked late last week that Lincecum did suffer a drop in velocity. Then a trip to the doctor to deal with a lingering illness cast a higher degree of focus over his Saturday start. Lincecum’s answer: 13 strikeouts, and no runs allowed in eight innings. His fastball was 93 mph with movement according to the San Francisco Chronicle, a shade below the 96 mph he pumped on opening day. And in Saturday’s outing, Lincecum displayed the command that made him last season’s NL Cy Young Award winner.
4. INTERESTING MOVE BY THE CARDINALS…in landing Blaine Boyer from Atlanta. After a heavy workload last year, Boyer had struggled to get started in 2009. But give him some time with Dave Duncan, the game’s premier pitching coach, and Boyer’s top-level stuff could give the Cards a welcome arm in the bullpen.
5. BIG NEWS IN WASHINGTON MONDAY…as after an ugly start to the season, the Nationals made a statement during the day by locking up Ryan Zimmerman to a five-year deal. Then their top pitching prospect, Jordan Zimmermann, survived a rain delay to throw six good innings, and beat the Braves in his major-league debut. No team in recent memory needed a day/night like this more than the Nationals. I’ll have more on them in my Thursday blog.
