Let's head down to sunny Miami, where today's report card will be issued to the Florida Marlins.
Florida Marlins:
Record: 87-75 (Second place in the NL East, six games behind Philadelphia).
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Hanley Ramirez (.342)
Home Runs: Dan Uggla (31)
RBIs: Hanley Ramirez (106)
On-base Percentage: Hanley Ramirez (.410)
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Josh Johnson (15)
ERA: Josh Johnson (3.23). Bullpen- Kiko Calero (1.95).
Strikeouts: Ricky Nolasco (195)
Innings Pitched: Josh Johnson (209.0)
WHIP: Josh Johnson (1.16)
Saves: Leo Nunez (26)
Highlight of the Season: Storming out to a 11-1 record to begin the season, their best start in team history, by far.
Lowlight of the Season: Losing two out of three to the Mets at home from September 25-27, which destroyed their postseason hopes. For the Mets however, it was sweet revenge, as it was the Marlins who destroyed their playoff chances at Shea in 2007 and 2008. Payback can really be a bitch sometimes.
The Lowdown:
After storming out to a ridiculous 11-1 start, the Marlins were unable to keep their stranglehold atop the NL East, as Philadelphia would eventually come back to take their third-consecutive division crown. Despite this, the Fish stayed in the thick of the division and Wild Card races, doing it they way they always do it; with a small payroll and with a ton of young talent. While their presence in the pennant race did not surprise nearly as many people this year, they still put together a very fine season. Ultimately, it was their lack of pitching that led to their downfall.
Offense:
For the second year in a row, the Marlins put together another good year offensively, and once again, they were led by star shortstop Hanley Ramirez. He ended up taking home the batting title in the National League, as he put together a spectacular average of .342. To go along with this, he put together great power numbers as well, hitting 24 homers and driving in 106. Obviously as a result of all of this, he was getting on base at a good rate, as his .410 on-base percentage finished in the top 10 in MLB. Once on base, he was also a stolen base threat, as he pilfered 27 bags in 35 chances. Simply put, this year was just another outstanding one for the all-star shortstop.
Other major contributors to Florida's lineup included Chris Coghlan, Dan Uggla and Cody Ross. Coghlan put together a fine rookie campaign by hitting .321 and getting on base at a clip of .390. His numbers impressed the baseball writers enough to where they voted him as the 2009 National League Rookie of the Year. Even though I did not necessarily agree with the selection (I thought that Pittsburgh's Garrett Jones should have won), I still thought his season was still pretty good for a rookie.
Uggla and Ross were the other two thumpers in the lineup as they hit 31 and 24 homers, respectively. While Uggla's power numbers as a second baseman are great, his free-swinging approach at the plate and his penchant for making errors in the field keep him from really joining the elite fraternity of second basemen in baseball. Ross' numbers also served as a good compliment to Uggla and Ramirez in the lineup, as he hit 24 homers and drove in 90.
Even though they have a tendency to be free swingers (their 1,226 strikeouts were the sixth-highest in baseball), they were still a pretty potent lineup altogether, as they finished 13th in runs scored (772), 19th in home runs (159), ninth in on-base percentage (.340) and tied for seventh in batting average (.268). For a young team with a small payroll, this is not bad at all.
Final Grade: B
Pitching:
While Josh Johnson put together a fine season for the Fish (15-5, 3.23 ERA), the rest of the staff struggled a bit, as the other three major starters (Ricky Nolasco, Chris Volstad and Sean West) all had ERAs over 4.50. Nonetheless, Nolasco's season came with a silver lining, as he recorded a solid 195 strikeouts in 185 innings. His signature pitching performance came on September 30 in Atlanta, when he recorded an impressive 16 strikeouts to just two walks in 7.2 innings. But that wasn't all. At one point in the game, he recorded nine strikeouts in a row, which fell one shy of the all-time record set by Tom Seaver in 1970. This would be the only real shining moment of the season for him though, as his ERA went up by over a run and a half from 3.52 in '08 to 5.06 this year. His season was the kind in which the won-loss record does not tell the complete story, as his 13-9 record was clearly the result of good run support.
There were some decent seasons put together by the pitchers in the bullpen, led chiefly by Kiko Calero. In 67 appearances, he put together a dazzling ERA of 1.95 in 60 innings. Reyel Pinto and Dan Meyer also put together good seasons, as each of them appeared in over 70 games and each of them recorded ERAs in the low-threes (Pinto- 3.23, Meyer- 3.09). The closer's role was mainly delegated between Leo Nunez and Matt Lindstrom, as they recorded 26 and 15 saves respectively. Nunez appeared to be the more adequate solution in the closer's role though, as he received more opportunities and put together a lower ERA (relatively speaking). Nunez featured an ERA of 4.06, while Lindstrom had an ERA hovering near six. Despite the fact that Nunez appeared to be the better option, he still blew seven saves.
Compared to the other teams in MLB, the Fish finished in the middle of the road in most pitching categories. However, the two biggest categories that caught my eye with them were their walks and strikeouts. They finished fifth in Ks with 1,248 and they finished with the fifth-highest total in walks with 601. While the strikeout total is nice, they may want to focus on walking less people next year. That way, the ERA of some of the starters in the rotation can go down as well.
Final Grade: C+
Wild Card: Front Office
The Marlins certainly get a lot of bang for their buck, as their opening day payroll of $36.8 million was by far the lowest in baseball. Comparatively speaking, the team with the next-highest opening day payroll, San Diego, had one that was $43.7 million, and they won only 75 games. While I was once very critical of the way they ran things, I am starting to soften my view on them just a little bit. While they do not spend money to keep their big-name players once they become free agents (sans Hanley Ramirez, who they actually signed to a six-year, $70 million extension in '08), they really put a lot of money into their scouting and player development, which keeps the team ready for a star player's departure. When one guy is gone, they can just fill in the void. It will be interesting to see how they approach their payroll once their new stadium opens in 2012, though.
Final Grade: B
Overall:
This is a team that was very good this past season, and they should be able to continue their success next year, barring a major roster shakeup. However, they really need to address their closer's role, as their starting pitching is still young and looks to improve. Perhaps signing a free-agent closer like Jose Valverde would provide a decent stop-gap for them at the end of ballgames. Otherwise, they had a great year, and don't be surprised to see them in contention next year.
Final Grade: B+
Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Texas Rangers!
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