The Great:

We avoided a sweep at the hands of the Diamondbacks by winning this game 2-1. The inning that that gave us the win was the bottom of the 6^th where the Marlins bats finally came alive— but not at first. We started the inning with Ricky popping out to the seconded baseman; then it was followed by an Adeiny Hechavarria single. Unfortunately, he was not moved up by Placido Polanco who flied out to left field the next at bat. Then came Derek Dietrich who singled to left field moving Adeiny to 3^rd. Up came Marcell Ozuna, who with a 2-1 count and 2 out double off the left field wall scored Hech and Dietrich and the Marlins took a 2-0 lead.  Justin Ruggiano walked and then Chris Coghlan ground out to end the inning… but not without the damaged already done.

The Bad:

Our 9^th inning was not the prettiest inning of the game. We started with Ricky giving up a double to Didi Gregorius ending his day. In came Steve Cishek who started out well by having Paul Goldschmidt ground out to second, but that ground out moved Didi moved to 3^rd. Next came Jason Kubel who sac flied to left field, scoring Didi. Eric Chavez then singled and Martin Prado walked ending Steve’s day. Mike Dunn, who has been on point this season, came in and walked Miguel Montero loading the bases. A. J. Pollock then came up and with a full count and grounded out to the shortstop ending the game and giving The Fish the win. This inning could have been a lot Uglier, but nevertheless it was Bad.

The Ricky:

May 14, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco (47) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

This is the Ricky Nolasco that all the Marlins fans wanted to see all season! Ricky went 8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, and a whopping 11 K! He struck out the side in the 5^th and the 8^th. Also having a 1-2-3 inning in the 2^nd (with a double play), the 6^th, and the 7^th. This was his best performance of the season and hopefully he can keep it up for the rest of the season.

In the end, it was a fun game to be at live. The crowd was so alive, the players were playing their hardest, and Ricky was amazing. If we can keep this up all season I can see the fans coming back. Until next time, enjoy your week and Let’s Go Marlins!

Mar 19, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jacob Turner (left) talks with catcher Rob Brantly (right) in the fourth inning during a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

With his job hanging in the balance, Turner did not have a strong start for the Miami Marlins, as our new author David pointed out last night.

Before the game, manager Mike Redmond made it clear that Turner needed to pitch well in what could be his last chance to impress the Marlins’ brass after a dismal spring. Unfortunately, Turner pitched as he has for most of March, giving up 7 hits and 4 earned runs in 5 innings pitched in Tuesday’s outing.

As David pointed out, while it is disappointing to see Turner pitching this poorly, you have to remember that Turner is only one-year older than Marlins star prospect, Jose Fernandez. He is a work in progress and some time in the minors to work on his stuff will not harm him at all.

Despite the shaky performance, manager Mike Redmond was happier with the results from Turner than his previous outings:

“Turner was much better today,” manager Mike Redmond said. “His first two innings were really good. He was pretty good in the strike zone, threw a lot of strikes, and mixed in his offspeed pitches. Those fourth and fifth innings, he just got the ball up a little bit. You could see he was starting to give up some long fly balls, and finally gave up a home run. His first outing, he was all over the place with his command. He just looked really uncomfortable. He looked much better today. He looked more confident. He was around the zone all day.”

Turner struggled with giving up long-balls last season as well, so this is something that needs to be monitored with Turner as well. Hopefully Turner can put everything together his next start, or the Marlins will have a decision to make about where he will start the season.

Polanco’s Returning to Form?

Placido Polanco is still recovering from his back issues from earlier this spring. He is slowly getting back into form for the Marlins, as he went 1-for-4 with a two-run single in the seventh inning, as part of a rally to get the Marlins back into the game.

Juan Pierre was the other Marlins offensive player of note, as he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in this one. Justin Ruggiano collected a double for the Marlins, hopefully he is starting to find his groove after back issues of his own.

The Good:

Let’s start off with the Marlins winning the game 6-0! Of course, any time the Marlins win it’s a good thing, Spring Training or not. Here is the really good—Ricky Nolasco showed up as the Ace we are going to need him to be. Ricky pitched 6 solid innings giving up no walks, striking out five, no runs, and only giving up 6 hits. It was a very good outing for Ricky. Next let’s welcome back Steve Cishek and Giancarlo Stanton. Both of them had a good game today coming back from the WBC. Steve Cishek pitched only 1 inning giving up no runs, 1 strike out, no hits, and only walked 1. Giancarlo had four plate appearances going 2-3 with a double, single and walk. The good doesn’t stop there though. The offense today was beyond good. Rob Brantly continues his strong spring with 3 hits, 3 RBI, and 1 run. Placido Polanco had a strong day at the plate as well going 2-4 with a double and 2 runs, while also having a good day defensively at third. Speaking of having a good day at a bag, we can’t forget Casey Kotchman, who in my opinion will be our starting first basemen. He was great at first and at the plate going 2-3 with a double and RBI. Now let us move on to the Bad.

Mar 17, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (center) is greeted by teammates after scoring a run in the third inning during a spring training game against St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Bad:

We are in still in Spring Training! That is all I can find for the bad today. I really can’t wait for the season to start.

The Ugly:

This time the Ugly has nothing to with the Marlins. This Ugly honor goes to St. Louis pitcher Lance Lynn who is now 1-3 in Spring training giving up nine hits,  5 runs, 2 walk and only 1 strike out in 3 2/3 inning. This was a very Ugly performance for a pitcher this late in Spring Training.

Join me next week for the next edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Recap. Until then, enjoy this week’s Marlins games. Until next time, Go Marlins!

The Marlins took on the New York Mets in Grapefruit league action later on that afternoon. The Marlins beat the Mets by the final score of 4-2, on strong pitching and improved hitting. Henderson Alvarez and Christian Yelich stood out in this game for the Marlins.

Henderson Alvarez Returns

March 16, 2013; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez (37) throws a pitch against the New York Mets in the spring training game at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

Alvarez made his first Spring Training start for the Marlins since his native Venezuela team was knocked out of the World Baseball Classic in the first round. Overall, Alvarez pitched to some mild success on Saturday. While he limited the Mets hitters to just three hits and one run over 3 2/3 innings, Alvarez threw only 26 of his 53 pitches for strikes. He struck out and walked one hitter.

Alvarez faced just one of the minimum hitters through the first three innings, but ran into some trouble in the fourth. He received a visit from the trainer after an Ike Davis single nearly clipped his leg. After some warm-up pitches, he remained in the game, but after allowing a ground-rule double to Marlon Byrd, Alvarez was removed with a minor hamstring cramp.

That does not seem to be serious, as Alvarez told everyone that cramp had already gone away after the game.

Kevin Slowey delivered another strong performance for the Marlins, upping his likelihood to make the Marlins team out of camp. Slowey relieved Alvarez and pitched a strong 4 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. He also allowed one run on two hits.

Slowey has a 2.63 ERA in 13 2/3 inning this spring, with 13 strikeouts and just 4 walks.

Mike Dunn closed the game for the Fish and struck out two of the three hitters he faced. Dunn is also having a strong spring. Dunn has made seven apperances, going one inning in each. He has struck out 7 and walked 4, while posting a 1.29 ERA.

Polanco Returns; Yelich Homers Again

Third baseman Placido Polanco returned to the Marlins lineup on Saturday, his first action since March 1st. Polanco went 2-for-3 with a double in his return. Polanco expects to be back in the Marlins lineup on Sunday.

Mar 9, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay (19) dives back to first base before Miami Marlins first baseman Casey Kotchman (18) can apply the tag in the third inning during spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Casey Kotchman continues to look like the favorite to make the Marlins opening day roster and start in the place of injured Logan Morrison. Kotchman went 2-for-2 and walked once against the Mets. His triple slash line is now .448/.484/.655. Kotchman will likely regress as a hitter, but his defense should make him a solid contributor until LoMo is ready to return.

Christian Yelich hit a ninth inning home run to pad the Marlins one-run lead. It was his team-leading fourth of the spring. He is noew hitting .368/.467/.816 on the spring. It still seems that Yelich will begin the season at Double-A, which is a great decision by the Marlins front office. Yelich has never played above Single-A, so there is no need to rush him.

Chris Coghlan continues to solidify his spot on the team, going 2-for-3 on the day, upping his line to .313/.333/.455. Although he has only walked once, Coghlan has a history of a better walk rate, so I believe he will improve in that area. If he can combine his walk rate with his spring hitting, the Marlins will have a solid regular on their hands.

Up Next: Check out the Marlins as they take on the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon on MLB Network at 1:05 PM EST. Opening Day starter Ricky Nolasco will get the start for the Marlins, with Giancarlo Stanton batting third in his return. The Cardinals will counter with Lance Lynn.

As the season approaches, the coverage here on Marlin Maniac will kick into gear as well. We are in the middle of our top prospects list and have already started getting into a routine with the game recaps. Some big news coming today or tomorrow about a new staff member being added onto the team as well.

What I can announce today is our new social media manager, Will Stanifer:

Will be the new Social Manager for @marlinmaniac This includes live tweets throughout the game, breaking news, etc. Everyone please follow

— Will Stanifer (@GenghisKhan19) March 11, 2013

Excited to have Will back on the staff, as some of you guys remember him as a staff writer from last season.

Let’s take a quick look at the articles written here on Marlin Maniac last week:

 Ehsan Kassim:

• Placido Polanco is dealing with back issues and it turns out that Josh Booty will not have a chance to resurrect his baseball career with the Marlins. Read herefor all the details on both these news tidbits.
  

  Mar 1, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins third baseman Placido Polanco (30) connects for a base hit during a spring training game against the Minnesota Twins at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

• From news about Giancarlo Stanton wowing teammates to making his television debut, read about what Stanton is doing when he is away from the Marlins because of the WBC.
• I continued my look at the Marlins top prospects, as ranked by Marlin Maniac: here are #14 and #13.
• Excited for Marlin Maniac’s second annual season preview? Here is a what you guys can expect from Marlin Maniac as we preview the 2013 season.
• Ricky Nolasco was named the 2013 Miami Marlins Opening Day starter against the Washington. This news is hardly a surprise to anyone, but how Nolasco found out about the news is.
• Alfredo Silverio, the Marlins Rule 5 pick, has dealt with another major setback from his recovery from his car accident from a year ago. Find out here how long Silverio is going to be out.
• The Marlins made their first cuts this past week, no surprises for who was let go.

Placido Estevez:

• Not interested in the World Baseball Classic because you don’t think it’s important? Placido tells you guys why the WBC does matter.

Alex Agueros:

• Will the Marlins signing of Placido Polanco be a disaster? That is the question that Alex poses to our readers. Will injuries make the Marlins regret signing the former all-star third baseman?

Fansided:

• Fansided now have an iOS App. Download it today to get your daily Marlin Maniac fix directly on your IPhone or IPad!