ESPN Says There Are Worse Teams Than the Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins have had a disastrous start to the season, but they're not the worst team in baseball according to ESPN

Miami Marlins third baseman Jake Burger (36) celebrates with centerfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2) after hitting a home run against the St. Louis Cardinals / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins are off to an 0-8 start to the season, but they might not be the most unfortunate team in the league.

In ESPN’s latest power rankings, the Marlins came in at No. 26 with four teams finishing below them. They were placed above the Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics.

Here is what the staff at ESPN had to say about the Marlins thus far:

“This has not gone well. With Eury Perez, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera all starting the season on the IL after injuries in spring training, these opening weeks were all about just keeping things together until the rotation got healthy. Instead, the Marlins started 0-7, lost two games in extra innings and were outscored 51 to 24, allowing at least six runs in six of their seven games. A.J. Puk had a great spring as he moved from the bullpen to the rotation -- and then walked six batters in his first start. The lineup hasn't hit either, and the early returns on the Tim Anderson signing don't look good.”

News about the pitching staff has only gotten worse as well with Perez being announced as out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The biggest bright spot of the season so far has been first/third baseman Jake Burger. The 27-year-old, hot off of a two-homerun performance last night against the Cardinals, has easily been the best bat of the season for the Marlins.

Should he keep it up and the Marlins continue on the downward trend, he could become an important trade chip for the franchise and help build up their farm system.

Maybe the Marlins can close the gap when the pitching staff gets a little bit more healthy, but there are a lot of things to fix right now.