A Calendar of Surprises: Marlins Hitting

 

Thirty-three games into the 2008 MLB season, what have we learned? Ken Griffey Jr. continues his assault on “what could have been” and Manny Ramirez is 100 homers behind him in his chase for all but locking up his spot in the Hall of Fame. These really can’t be called surprises, though, because anybody familiar with the game could see this coming a mile away.

However, if we take a closer look, we can see that the AL Central is being lead by none other than the Minnesota Twins, a team who lost its best pitcher in an offseason steal made by the Metropolitans of New York. The Cardinals of St. Louis lead their division due to their superb pitching till now, but have suffered the ticking time bomb that is Albert Pujols’s elbow, as well as the fact that he is being pitched around nearly half the time.

But why are the Marlins, a team that was destined to be looking forward to small victories, such as youngsters developing and getting a high draft pick for their inevitable horrible finish in first place?

The Florida Marlins are 11^th in MLB in BA: With superstar Hanley Ramirez leading the way, the Marlins are posting a respectable team batting average of .262. Unfortunately, they are hurt by their inability as a club to take a walk, which prevents a large separation in BA/OBP, but to this point, the impact hasn’t had as a severe effect because of my next point…

The Florida Marlins are 3^rd in MLB in SLG%: Ahead of Red Sox and Tigers, teams both projected to score roughly 900+ runs, the Marlins are behind only the Atlanta Braves and the extraordinary Diamondbacks with a gaudy .451 SLG%…

The Florida Marlins are 2^nd in MLB in HRs: Contributing to their gaudy SLG% is the fact that they have tallied 45 HRs so far this season, putting them on pace for 220 by season’s end. Led by a power surge by incumbent slugging 1B Mike Jacobs, as well as the powerful middle infield of Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez, the team can certainly put runs on the board quickly.

Factor in the trade that sent 3B Miguel Cabrera to the Detroit Tigers this offseason, and many fans were left wondering what the offense would be left to do, but if the past month has been any indication, the offense is arguably as good as it has been. And, as the season progresses, so should the players, who will develop better patience at the plate once they learn that they don’t need to press, but rather to let their own talent take over the game.

The most admirable quality of the Marlins’ offense is the fact that most of the numbers they put up have seemingly been to bring them back from an early deficit. With certain starting pitching struggles, the Marlins’ offense has taken the initiative to take games over themselves. The odd thing is the rate at which they’ve succeeded, resulting in the Marlins being 19-14 at time of print.