Archive for June, 2009

I was more than happy to see the Marlins take the win over the Orioles tonight, but let’s face it, wins like these are so gutwrenching and agonizing that it makes me sick just reminscing about it. Nevertheless, a win’s a win, and the Marlins pull into .500 with some self-inflicted drama. Let’s get into some analysis. The Marlins pen exploded. Just a few days ago I was talking about the Marlins and how their bullpen was deceptively good. The previous 20 innings of relief prior to Matt Lindstrom’s implosion versus the Yankees signaled troubling times ahead. The club couldn’t [...]

Wild, frustrating, and ultimately relieving. And that was just Bonifacio’s evening at the plate! More on the game in Blogservations in just a bit. Emilio Bonifacio: 6 PA, 1 H, 1 1B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 enormous GIDP, WPA: .012 Best Performer: Hanley Ramirez: 6 PA, 2 H, 1 2B, 1 HR (GS), 1 IBB, 4 RBI, 1 R, WPA: .212 Hanley was the man in this game, coming up with power hits when it mattered, particularly the grand slam, which we needed every bit of to win the game. Nice to see Bonifacio on [...]

Wes Helms thinks Larry Beinfest could do a whole lot more with the Yankees cash: “If he uses the same philosophy he does with the low payroll I think it would be pretty amazing,” Helms said. “It might be one of the best teams ever.” …“I’ve always said it’s not about the payroll,” Helms said. “It’s about the chemistry of the team. I’ve always been a big believer if you get a lot of superstars in one room it might cause more conflict than it does help the team.” No offense Wes, but these statements are a bit contradictory. If [...]

Today’s Fish Bites come with heavy anticipation, as I am very excited to see Matt Wieters for the first time. – Tonight’s game features the Marlins and the Orioles from Land Shark Stadium. Koji Uehara will go for the Orioles, while it will be Andrew Miller for our Marlins. Miller had a decent game last time out versus the Red Sox, suffering a 6-1 loss in which he gave up four earned runs and walked four while striking out six. He wasn’t the beneficiary of the easiest strike zone, as he missed a lot of low strikes when he attempted [...]

Just saw this via Lenny’s Yankees via Deadspin. I’d say that I’m happy to see Marlins fans putting up a fight against the overwhelming majority of Yankees fans, but I don’t want that kind of fighting at the stadium. The little crying girl says it all. Please, it’s just baseball guys.

Linking time after a nice 2-of-3 versus the Yankees. – Daily Stadium Update! The Marlins are set, barring the injunction by local citizens working, to break ground next month on the stadium that’s been a million years in the making. I’ll be happy when this is all over and I don’t have to hear too much about the stadium until 2012, when Opening Day is there. – The Marlins and FOX Sports Florida have the 2009 FOX Sports Fantasy Auction this Tuesday live on the TV broadcast of the Marlins versus the Orioles. Proceeds go to the Florida Marlins Community [...]

This I just had to talk about outside of Fish Bites. I watched yesterday’s exciting 6-5 win for the Marlins on television. It was going smoothly heading into the eigth, with the Marlins up 6-3. Then, Girardi pulled this out and stopped everything. After Alejandro De Aza(notes) pinch-hit in the pitcher’s spot in the seventh, the Marlins intended to leave him in the game in left field, inserting reliever Leo Nunez(notes) in the No. 1 slot. But when the eighth started, starter Chris Coghlan — who had been officially removed from the game – ran out to left field. Girardi [...]

One hell of a way to finish a series, huh? The Marlins take it 6-5 in a nailbiter over the Yankees. At least Matt Lindstrom made it a nailbiter in 9th, but we’ll talk about that in a bit. Let’s get to some observations. Chris Volstad looked vastly improved tonight. Volstad showed some improvement in tonight’s performance over his previous start, a beatdown handed out by the Boston Red Sox earlier in the week. His Pitch f/x look, courtesy of Brooks Baseball. Volstad’s location was far better tonight than it was in his start against the Red Sox. You can [...]

Last time, I took a look at Dan Uggla and his ever-improving plate approach. I compared his approach as similar to that of Adam Dunn’s, he of the 40 home runs each of the last six season. Dunn is one of the better offensive performers in the National League, and if Uggla can become something close to Dunn in terms of offense, perhaps the club overlook his defensive shortcomings, especially given the fact he plays a more premium defensive position. That being said, Uggla isn’t looking anything like Dunn right now, at least peripherally. Dunn is putting up another excellent [...]

Great win tonight by the Marlins over the Yankees. I couldn’t have asked for anicer way to head into Sunday, knowing that the pitching matchup, Chris Volstad versus C.C. Sabathia, is going to be heavily in favor of the Yankees. Let’s look at some things. Josh Johnson was dominating once again. It’s nice to take a look at a pretty good Pitch f/x chart for once. As always, courtesy of Brooks Baseball. Against a team batting predominantly lefty against Johnson, he was able to locate well down and away with his fastball. Also, he got them swinging and missing with [...]