Offense shows signs of life, but inconsistency an issue
The Miami Marlins’ offense has shown it has firepower at small, select points through the first month of the 2019 MLB season.
The Marlins have recorded double-digit hits seven times this year; they lead MLB with four games with at least 16 hits.
That’s the good.
The bad? The Marlins have yet to consistently string together these quality offensive performances.
When they dropped their series opener to the Atlanta Braves 7-2 on Friday night, one game after recording 10 hits in a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Indians, it continued that rough trend for the consistently inconsistent Marlins.
“Our guys are hanging in there,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “but we weren’t doing a lot.”
Friday was just the most recent example.
The Marlins’ seven games heading into Saturday account for 100 of the team’s 231 hits (43.3 percent), 47 of their MLBlow 88 runs (53.4 percent), seven of their 23 home runs (30.4 percent) and, most importantly, five of their nine wins over 31 games.
The seven games immediately following those offensive outbursts? The Marlins went 1-6, hit .166, scored 11 combined runs, were shut out twice and struck out 78 times while collecting just 38 total hits.
“The results haven’t been there so far for us,” Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas said. “We know what we can do.”
They’ve shown it, albeit not as much as they would like. Some recent examples:
Eleven hits and six runs (five earned) off Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer in a 9-3 win over the Nationals April 20.
Nine hits and five earned runs off Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Jake Arrieta in a 12-9 loss April 27 that saw a nine-run comeback bid fall short.
Eight hits and three earned runs off two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber in Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.
But as good as those outings were, the Marlins can point to any of their 14 games — like Friday night — when they had five or fewer hits. They scored more than two runs in just two of those instances.
The Marlins are still last in runs and 26th in batting average (.226).
Catcher Jorge Alfaro is the only player on the roster hitting above .300 heading into Saturday, barely creeping above that line at .301.
Rojas added that the team needs to improve its day-to-day planning when it scouts its opponents for upcoming series and realize that just because it had results off one good pitcher doesn’t mean that the success is going to automatically carry over to the next day.
“It’s consistency. The whole team needs to find it,” Rojas said. “One of the things is the individual plans. You have to come up with a plan every day for a different pitcher. We can put up 16 hits and some runs on one guy, but the next day, it’s a different pitcher.”
THIS AND THAT
The Marlins recalled outfielder/first baseman Peter O’Brien from Triple A New Orleans after putting Garrett Cooper (lefthand contusion) on the 10-day injured list for the second time this season.
O’Brien initially replaced Cooper the first time Cooper was put on the IL on March 31 with a right calf strain four games into the season. The Hialeah native and UM alumnus lasted just nine games after batting .111 (3 for 27) with one home run, three walks and 14 strikeouts.
Since being sent back to New Orleans, however, O’Brien has seen an uptick in production. He is hitting .278 with five home runs over 54 at-bats. His 21 strikeouts in 61 plate appearances (34.4 percent) are still high, though.
Neil Walker returned to the starting lineup for the first time since April 25. He played at first base and batted third. During his time on the bench, Walker went 1 for 2 with two walks in four pinch-hit appearances.