Team bets on Bour’s power
Notable spring face u1B Justin Bour: With a wealth of first basemen available on the free agent market this offseason, the Marlins chose not to pursue any of them. After toiling in the minors for six seasons, Bour unexpectedly mashed 23 homers for the Marlins in 2015 and was on his way to topping that last season before an ankle injury in July sapped his power.
The lefty swinger has done almost all of the damage in his career against right-handed pitchers — he’s a .223 hitter with zero career home runs off southpaws — but the Marlins have committed to now-healthy Bour as their everyday starter this season. Burning question Can they recover from the death of Jose Fernandez?
While there’s no way to replace one of the game’s top young pitchers, the Marlins have to fill his spot in the rotation. The role of No. 1 starter likely falls to veteran Wei-Yin Chen, who was limited to 1231⁄ innings last season 3 because of a sprained elbow.
With no impact starters available on the free agent market, the Marlins chose to add depth, signing free agents Edinson Volquez and Jeff Locke and trading for Dan Straily.
Volquez provides veteran experience for a team that hasn’t reached the postseason since 2003. But he’s coming off a season in which his ERA ballooned to 5.37. Straily was quietly one of the game’s best pitchers over the second half of last season, going 10-2 with a 3.10 ERA for the last-place Cincinnati Reds.
The Marlins also strengthened their bullpen this offseason, signing veterans Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa.
But it will be much more difficult to fill the void Fernandez leaves in the clubhouse, where he was one of the team’s most vocal leaders. — Steve Gardner