Venom Strikes » Miami Marlins

Q & A Session with Ehsan Kassim of Marlin Maniac

Thomas Lynch — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:04:04 +0000

Recently, I had the chance to get some thoughts from Ehsan Kassim, the Editor at Marlin Maniac regarding the Fish. The Marlins and Diamondbacks start a three game series this weekend in Miami. I will first share Ehsan’s responses to my questions.

How pumped are you to see Jose Fernandez every fifth day? Extremely excited. I still don’t see why the Marlins could not wait a little while to bring him up, for mostly service time issues, but he has proven the Marlins to be correct in their decision, from a pure baseball perspective. Part of what makes Fernandez great and fun to watch is his confidence. After all he’s been through in his life, facing Major League hitters does not phase him at all.

I expect Martin Prado to have a big series in Miami. Image: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Will Justin Ruggiano be a quality, everyday outfielder?

Ruggiano has all the tools to be an everyday outfielder in my opinion. He won’t hit for a high average like he did last season, but the power from his bat is legitimate. Ruggiano also will not get on base a ton, but his defense in centerfield is above average and he has shown some nice wheels on the basepaths. His early season slash line in 2013 is currently .218/.302/.421 with 7 home runs and 5 stolen bases. Ruggiano is likely a fourth outfielder on a playoff team, but for the Marlins right now, he is more than an adequate starter. In fact, he is the Marlins best hitter right now.

Are you waiting for Kevin Slowey to revert back to his Twins’ days or can he win at least 12 games this season?

No doubt Slowey will revert to his Minnesota days pretty soon. He actually struggled badly in his last start as he was tagged for five runs over 4.2 innings pitched in a loss to the Dodgers. The hope for the Marlins is that Slowey continues to pitch well and is traded well before he starts to regress to the pitcher he was with the Twins.

When will the Giancarlo Stanton trade rumors start up again?

When will they stop is a better question. For Marlins fans, everywhere we turn, we hear a new rumor for how Stanton will be traded to a new team. Of course, each trade rumor comes with ridiculous trade offers that the Marlins would not even accept for a bucket of baseballs. The rumors have died down a bit with Stanton out with his hamstring injury, but upon his return, I would expect them to run rampant again and dominate the trade deadline talk. I doubt Stanton is traded before the offseason though.

We will see Christian Yelich in……..?

Mid-to-late June. Yelich is tearing apart minor league pitching in Double-A since his return from the disabled list at the beginning of the season. It took Yelich a little while to get going, but he now owns a .319/.390/.659 slash line with 17 extra base hits. He should take over for Ruggiano in center if fellow prospect Marcell Ozuna continues to hit in the big leagues or in left field if Ozuna starts to struggle against MLB pitching.

Will Juan Pierre be the first player to have his number retired by the organization?

I don’t believe so. His number 9 jersey will eventually be retired, but Mike Lowell and Jeff “Mr. Marlin” Conine are first in line for that honor. Both players have close ties with the franchise still and should have their respective jersey’s retired soon. Pierre should follow after that duo.

These were my responses to Ehsan’s questions.

What were your thoughts on the Justin Upton trade initially and what are your thoughts on it today?

I thought the trade was lousy then and I still think it is lousy. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that a 25 year old star who seemingly didn’t cause any trouble with no worries about free agency is no longer with the team. Nothing against Martin Prado who will be just fine and has been great with his versatility but he can’t carry a club like Justin Upton can. Plus, he was a product of the farm system. Very rarely if ever does the team trading the superstar player get equal value in return. Marlin fans know that with Miguel Cabrera. However, it is over and done with and the less I think about it, the better.

So, Heath Bell is your closer? How bad does that suck? (Wait, I think I know the answer to that!)

Isn’t there a saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? Well, that’s a bit of a stretch but Bell has been better than you think. His ERA is out of whack because he was bombed in his first outing. He has six saves and unless my eyes were playing games with me, I did see him get up to 96 on the gun the other night. The deal was a head-scratcher at the time but Kevin Towers made a wise decision by trading for him.

Cody Ross was a fan favorite in Miami for so many years. How is he doing in Arizona?

Ross is exactly what he has done over his career. He is killing lefties to the tune of a .386 batting average. He started the season on the disabled list and has progressed nicely with his overall average up near .300. Like the rest of the team, he has struggled with runners in scoring position, hitting .241. He seems to fit the mold of what the D’backs want and a term we have heard endlessly: gritty. Plus, having a guy on the team who bats righty and throws lefty is always cool.

Has Paul Goldschmidt established himself as one of the better first baseman in baseball?

A resounding yes. He is tied for second in the National League in home runs with 10, third in RBI’s with 31 and is tied for sixth in batting at 322. Plus, he has come up with big hit after big hit. At times, he is the D’back offense who has improved his defense greatly. He also will steal a base when the opportunity arises. Recently, he destroyed the Dodgers during a three game series in Los Angeles pounding out four home runs. Ask someone from Lasordaslair what they do when they see Goldy face Chris Capuano.

How has the Diamondbacks pitching staff fared in 2013? Which pitchers will the Marlins face in this series?

First up will be Trevor Cahill. After struggling early, the sinkerballer has found a groove but little run support to show for it. He is only 2-4 but his ERA is 2.70. Walks are an issue at times as he has issued 20 free passes in 50 innings. He does strike people out (39) which when combined with the walks may explain why he hasn’t pitched six full innings in half of his starts. Saturday will feature Brandon McCarthy who is still searching for his first D’back victory. His last start should have been it as he threw eight shutout innings only to have Heath Bell sabotage him. The ERA is coming down as each start is better than the last one. Sunday, Wade Miley goes to the hill. He has struggled in three of his last four starts. Control has been an issue has he has walked three or more batters in a game in four of his eight starts. After finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting, here is hoping he is not hitting the dreaded sophomore slump.

Make a bold prediction for the series. Which D-Back hitter will have a huge series? Which pitcher?

I look for Martin Prado to come up big. He is pressing under the weight of expectations as the main player in the Upton trade and perhaps a somewhat familiar venue will help him get on track. As for the pitcher, my money is on Heath Bell slamming the door twice on the Fish and blowing kisses to the crowd as he exists the field on Sunday.

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The Miami Marlins Are A Sad, Sad Team

Christian Moffett — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:39:46 +0000

The Arizona Diamondbacks start a series in Miami tomorrow against the Marlins. First of all, if Arizona does not sweep this series, then, well the team needs to seriously be re-evaluated. There are three emotions that go through me when I think about the Miami Marlins: sadness, anger, and embarrassment.

Opening Night 2013.

This organization makes me sad because this is a “professional” baseball team and they are struggling to put 500 people in the stands for a game. It’s sad to see this type of thing happening in baseball. I have been to one Marlins game in my life and it was at the old stadium (whatever it was named that particular week). Barry Bonds was chasing the home run record and you could hardly get a ticket to see the Giants that year. I remember there was probably about 7,000 people at the game in Miami against San Francisco. I thought it was so weird that nobody came to this game to see Barry try to chase the record. Also, it was 70′s night at the ballpark, so a lot of people missed out on an enjoyable night. The Marlins have pretty much given up, in all aspects of the word. It is sad that professional athletes are playing in front of nobody. As a baseball fan, it hurts to see this occurring. All jokes aside, I really feel bad for these players. Even if they are a bunch of AAA guys, this is probably not how they envisioned their major league careers.

This organization makes me mad for a lot of reasons. First of all, if I lived even remotely close to South Florida, I would be at most of the Marlins games. I’m such a baseball nerd that I don’t care if a team is bad or the owner has forgotten he owns the team, I just love watching baseball. It makes me mad that people in Miami don’t even want to watch the sport anymore. I’ve spent 20 years of my life in Colorado, so I know a thing or two about horrible baseball teams. The organization is actually giving away tickets now. The most recent deal at Marlins Ballpark is “4 free tickets for all FAU students.” Seriously? All you have to do is be in college and you get four tickets to a major league baseball game. I’m sold! The team has also been forced to close the upper deck of the stadium during weekday games. I can’t even think of a time when an entire upper deck was empty at a professional sporting event. It just makes me angry that this extravagant ballpark is going to waste because nobody, not even the owners want to buy into this organization.

Let’s be honest, the Marlins are probably one of the most embarrassing organizations in sports. I think Miami is actually worse than their 11-29 record says. We had a joke at the radio station I work at in Alabama and if anyone could name the Marlins starting lineup, you’d win a prize. Needless to say, nobody won the prize…I feel like Morris Buttermaker should be the manager of this team because everything just kind of seems like a joke. From the goofy fish statue in center, to the off-putting neon green surrounding the ballpark, nothing “works.” Also, the stadium is just too damn big. If the team wanted to get a couple more people in the seats, they should have made the fence 300 feet all the way around so the 48 people in attendance would at least get to see a high-scoring game. But instead, the fences are high and very far away, which doesn’t really appeal to the casual baseball fan.

Pick a seat, any seat.

Players, fans, and the front office have all seemingly given up. The next to go is the PR staff at the ballpark, and they are all hanging by a thread. I’m not really sure what steps can be taken to make this organization realize what they are doing to themselves, and the game of baseball. All I know is that if nothing changes, the fish will continue to be the punching bag of the league.

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Diamondbacks vs. Marlins Stat Recap: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly

Noah Dougherty — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 19:33:14 +0000

In true 2012 spirit the Diamondbacks continued their Jekyll and Hyde antics through the Marlins series and finished with a four game split. In the first two matchups the Dbacks allowed thirty-five hits and eighteen runs but then surrendered just two runs over the next eighteen innings while collecting a pair of wins. It’s what we’ve come to expect of this year’s team and probably what we should expect for the remainder of the year.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Tyler Skaggs throws in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Chase Field. Image: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

If you told me at the beginning of the 2011 season that in August of that year the team was three games over .500 and within striking distance of the N.L. West lead I would have been impressed. But since that 2011 team had a huge breakout season posting 94 wins, it makes the team of 2012 seem like a flop.

Record Notes: With their win(s) on Wednesday the team improved to 64-61 and sits six full games behind the first place Giants. It was the team’s fourth straight four game split and they’re now 1-1-4 in four game series this season. Luckily for the Dbacks as they continue to play .500 ball this late in the season so do the Giants, Dodgers and the Pirates who Arizona trails in the Wild Card by just 4.5 games. Despite all the ups and downs and disappointing games this team has played they still sit right in the thick of things when it all matters- something we should all be excited about.

*The Diamondbacks completed their first ever doubleheader at Chase Field with a sweep on Wednesday on the backs of two rookies, Tyler Skaggs and Wade Miley.

GOOD: Wade Miley was again exceptional on Wednesday night hurling eight shutout innings while allowing just four hits. He capped his night off by striking out the side in the eighth. It was the fifth time this season he worked at least six innings without allowing an earned run and the thirteenth time in twenty-two starts that he’s allowed one or fewer runs. Miley has to be the front runner for Rookie of the Year honors with 14 wins and an ERA of 2.80.

*David Hernandez and J.J. Putz are the most reliable relievers on the team right now and for the first time since April 12^th Putz can say his ERA is under 3.00 (2.95). Putz had an awful April and May but looks like he’ll still finish with 30-35 saves and his ERA will hopefully hover around the 3.00 mark the remainder of the season. Hernandez worked two innings against the Marlins and struck out five hitters. In his last 9 2/3 innings he has recorded 16 strikeouts and a win while posting an ERA of .93.

*Aaron Hill had six hits against the Marlins while knocking in all three runs in game one of the double header with a two run homerun in the first and an RBI single in the third. He now has five multi-hit games in his last seven contests and has not struck out in his last twenty-nine at bats.

*Tyler Skaggs produced quite the debut on Wednesday working into the seventh before giving way to Brad Ziegler after he allowed a two out walk. Gibson said Skaggs could have finished the inning but because it was his debut he wasn’t going to allow him to get the loss after such a great outing. The two runs he allowed came after a leadoff walk in the second to Giancarlo Stanton and then two pitches later served up a long homerun to dead centerfield. He walked five batters in all- something that he may not be so lucky with minimizing damage next time out. Another advantage to relieving Skaggs in the seventh was that he was able to walk off the field to a standing ovation at Chase Field, something he said was the “greatest feeling I’ve ever had.” It was a pretty great moment being at the game and watching him walk towards us as he tipped his cap.

BAD: Trevor Cahill was not as fortunate as Skaggs in his outing on Tuesday despite being spotted a five run lead in the first inning. He was unable to make it out of the sixth as he allowed seven hits and four earned runs on the day. He escaped without the loss as the team headed to extra innings later in the night. Cahill continues to be inconsistent and unimpressive throughout his first season as a Diamondback and has a 9-10 record with an ERA of 3.86.

*Chris Johnson’s playing time has diminished as of late and he recorded just two hits against the Marlins- although they both resulted in an RBI. He is now just 3 for his last 28 with 8 strikeouts since he hammered two homeruns on August 7^th against the Pirates.

UGLY: Joe Saunders posted his worst outing of his career on Monday working just 3 2/3 innings while allowing nine earned runs on twelve hits. He surrendered two homeruns in the outing and has tossed up four dingers in his last two starts where he’s now allowed 14 earned runs in 9 2/3 innings. Since August 9^th when his ERA was a very respectable 3.52 he has seen his earned run average sky rocket to 4.22 and dropped to 6-10 on the year.

*One-run games. A year ago [when everything went right for the club] the team was a major league best 28-16 but 2012 has been a different story as they’re just 10-18 this season in one-run games. The team blew a five run lead to the Marlins Tuesday to fall in extra innings 6-5 and then won a one run game 3-2 on Wednesday.

NOTES: Jason Kubel gunned down Jose Reyes as he headed to third on Monday to record his 12^th outfield assist tying a club record with Eric Byrnes and Gerardo Parra.

*Ryan Wheeler recorded his first major league multi-hit game on Tuesday finishing 2 for 3.

*With their extra inning loss on Tuesday, the team dropped to 1-2 in such games. The team has played the fewest extra inning games of all major league teams.

*Justin Upton pulled up limping after scoring in the first inning Tuesday and was removed from the game. He sat out both games of the double header but is believed to be ready for action this weekend.

*The homestand continues tonight as the Dbacks take on the San Diego Padres who have won four straight heading to Chase Field. The Dbacks will send their third consecutive rookie starter to the hill in Patrick Corbin who’ll face off with Eric Stults.