Marlins Waste Koehler’s Strong Start

The Marlins dropped another series, this time at the hands of the New York Mets with a 4-3 loss on Wednesday night. The loss diminishes yet another solid performance by Tom Koehler who seems to be forgetting that he is only supposed to be good enough to be the 5th man in the rotation.

Koehler struck out a season high 10 batters while giving up only 2 earned runs and 5 hits over 7 innings of work. His only downfall on the night was the number of walks he issued and one bad pitch to Kirk Nieuwenhuis that ended up in the right field bleachers. Tom walked 4 on the night and was able to pitch around all but one of the walks.

Unfortunately for Koehler and Fish fans, every Marlins rally was seemingly over before it started. Miami was never able to get a crooked number on the board, managing only single runs in the 3rd, 7th, and 8th innings. 3 Marlins double plays on the night also proved costly.

We would be remiss if we didn’t give some credit to New York Mets rookie Jacob deGrom. deGrom was stellar on the night, allowing only 1 earned run in 6 innings. deGrom more than made up for noted Marlins’ killer David Wright who had a dismal night at the plate going 0-5 with 4 strikeouts.

Giancarlo Stanton continued his MVP quest by homering in his 3rd consecutive game, this one a solo shot in the 8th inning. The blast gives him 36 on the year, 1 away from his career high.

Christian Yelich extended his hit streak to 7 games, including multi-hit games in his last 2. He also notched his 50th RBI on the season, a solid mark for a leadoff hitter.

While a lack of timely hitting doomed the Marlins on this night, for me it was more about Tom Koehler. Koehler has allowed 3 runs or fewer and gone at least 6 innings in each of his last 4 starts. Now I am not saying that Koehler is a front line pitcher, but with all of the Marlins young talented pitchers, Koehler is often times lost in the shuffle.

All he continues to do is go out and deliver solid outings. He has a 3.74 ERA and a 3.90 FIP, very respectable for a 5th starter. In listening to analysts and fans spout off future Marlins rotations, you rarely hear Koehler’s name and understandably so. He doesn’t have the upside as some of the other hurler’s that the Marlins are counting on, but if he continues to provide stability and consistency, he will make it very difficult to remove him from the rotation.

Maybe it is time that we all start realizing that Koehler should be a pitcher in the Marlins future rotation.