Heading into the Mid-Summer Classic, the Marlins are Suddenly Struggling to Score
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It's been a magical season so far for the Miami Marlins, who have risen from the depths of the NL East cellar to become leading Wild Card contenders. After years of apathy, the organization has constructed what is perhaps the best young team in baseball, and a group that has surprised some observers with its 52-44 record.
Just three games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves, the Fish entered play on Sunday with one game on the schedule before the All-Star break, on Sunday afternoon at home against the Cleveland Guardians. Miami will look to avenge itself after dropping the first two games of the three-game set at loanDepot Park.
Regardless of the outcome later Sunday afternoon, the first half has been heavenly for a fan base that has seen former glory in the past... the distant past. The winners of two World Series, the Marlins must maintain consistency to reach that same level again. And recently, they have fallen short in that area when it comes to their offense. In particular, the number of tallies on the scoreboard.
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In their past two games, the Miami hitters have looked lost with runners in scoring position. They score a total of three runs in the first two contests. While Cleveland's pitching staff can certainly be given credit for much of that, the Fish have also floundered when they had chances to flourish.
“They’ve been doing a good job at inducing a lot of soft contact,” second-year Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said of the Guardians' hurlers. “We put some balls on the ground when we had guys on. Couldn’t take advantage of the walks we’ve gotten over the past few nights.”
Is Scoring a Short Series Nightmare?
While it would be very 'tabloid-ish' to suggest this is some massive sign of a collapse or that there's more to this than a couple of bad games, it could indicate a potential problem in the postseason. For the Marlins to make some noise in the playoffs, they will have to rattle some bats.
In other words, while they have some great arms like Max Meyer and Sandy Alcantara, they don't have enough pitching depth to survive an October match-up unless they outscore their opponents. In a five-to seven-game series, you can't afford for your lineup to take any nights off.
The All-Star break should only help the team regroup and recharge for the second half of the season.
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