Archive for May, 2011

Right now, the Marlins are remaining optimistic, but the early signs just aren’t very good regarding Hanley Ramirez and his lower back stiffness. “I just got scared. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t rotate,” [Ramirez] said Monday before taking treatment. “I was hoping I could play today, but I can’t. I’ve just got to go day to day. I’m feeling it in my legs, down the left side. A tingle in my leg. That’s not a good sign. That’s what we’re worried about right now, the feeling in my legs. Hopefully it’ll be better in a couple of days.” The combination [...]

The following table has the three most important position players on the Marlins’s roster, at least when it comes to this upcoming offseason’s plans. Player, 2011 PA AVG OBP SLG wOBA Logan Morrison 134 .325 .410 .570 .421 Mike Stanton 190 .259 .337 .542 .379 Gaby Sanchez 224 .314 .397 .460 .389 This trio of players is going to play a pivotal role not only during this 2011 season but in the years to come. Morrison, Sanchez, and Stanton are each going to be vital parts of the team for the next few years, and the early starts to their [...]

A lot of folks have offered their opinion about what turned out to be last night’s game-winning play for the Florida Marlins, the collision between Scott Cousins and San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey that ended with Cousins scoring and Posey seriously injured. The collision itself looked nasty, as evidenced by this GIF made by SBNation’s Jeff Sullivan. Posey is set to undergo X-rays to see exactly what happened (H/T Baseball Nation), but the initial signs don’t sound good. First, there were the game implications. The Marlins had runners on first and third with one out in a tied game [...]

This is a sight for sore eyes, at least when it comes to Ricky Nolasco. Nolasco ERA FIP xFIP SIERA 2011 3.04 3.32 3.11 3.42 2010 4.51 3.86 3.37 3.33 2009 5.06 3.35 3.23 3.04 2009-2011 4.51 3.54 3.26 3.21 That first line, representing Nolasco’s 2011 season, contains the best matching between his peripherals and his ERA that he has displayed in a long time. For the past two seasons he has struggled mightily to make these numbers match despite pitching a very skillful game plan. The Marlins were clearly aware of the large gaps in on-field value and peripheral [...]

A quick edition of Fish Bites for your late Wednesday morning. Enjoy your Florida Marlins links for the week. – Josh Johnson is on the DL, but he may resume throwing today if all goes according to plan. – Grant Frisbee of SBNation’s Baseball Nation and of McCovey Chronicles discusses how the Marlins are winning on a budget as usual and what he’d like to see in a Moneyball-style Fishyball book. Yes, he knows it’s a bad title. Yes, I may consider writing such a thing in the future. Someone get me access to Michael Hill! – Speaking of Grant’s [...]

Florida Marlins @ San Francisco Giants (27-19), May 24-26, Games 46-48 NL East Standings Tm W L Win% GB PHI 29 18 .617 – FLA 26 19 .578 2.0 ATL 26 23 .531 4.0 NYM 22 24 .478 6.5 WSN 21 26 .447 8.0 Stadium: AT&T Park Five-year Run PF*: 1.00 Five-year HR PF*: 0.94 Stadium Dimensions: Left Field (line): 339 ft. Left field: 364 Left-Center: 404 Center Field: 399 Right-Center: 421 Right Field 365 Right Field (line): 309 *Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

A lot of good things had to happen over the weekend for the Florida Marlins to take two games from the three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays. However, perhaps the most intriguing of all those things was the performance of Javier Vazquez, which will be the primary topic of discussion of this edition of Fish Cap. Series Hero: Logan Morrison (0.397 WPA) Series Goat: Omar Infante (-0.174 WPA) Impressed by: Javier Vazquez (7 IP, 0 R, 7 K, 2 BB, 0 HR) Depressed by: Jay Buente (3 IP, 4 R, 1 K, 3 BB, 0 HR)

As we found out over the weekend, Josh Johnson was placed on the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation. The first apparent sign was that Johnson’s velocity dropped to 91 mph in his previous start. He then felt discomfort during a bullpen session between starts, prompting the Fish to cautiously put him on the disabled list. Obviously Johnson’s stint on the DL is unrelated to his being pelted by a line drive in his right arm in that previous start against the New York Mets. Johnson is hopeful that the damage is not too bad and that he can return [...]

Marlin Maniac Live Chat, Tampa Bay

After a busy week of medical school and a couple of sneaky two-game series which barely got a chance to finish up (the New York Mets two-gamer got shortened to a one-gamer!), Marlin Maniac returns to Series Preview form with a discussion of this first series of interleague play against the hated Florida rival* Tampa Bay Rays. *We actually don’t hate them. We don’t have any opinion about them. Interleague series rivalries don’t exist, even among geographic partners. Live Chat, Friday 7pm, Marlins vs. Rays here. Tampa Bay Rays (25-19) @ Florida Marlins, May 20-22, Games 43-45 NL East Standings [...]