Miami Marlins: Today Is A Good Day

Today is a great day for Major League Baseball. The game we love gets three of the best pitchers in baseball back today.

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Matt Cain, Matt Moore and Jose Fernandez all come back from injury today, all of them will be pitching for the first time in over a year.

The Arizona Diamondbacks also expect youngster Patrick Corbin back from the DL this weekend.

Ironically, Jose Fernandez will face Matt Cain both making their season debuts in today’s Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants series finale.

This is a Miami Marlins’ blogging site, so I’m going to write mainly about Jose Fernandez here.

As we all know, Jose Fernandez is one of the greatest pitchers in the game today and after a long wait, he’s back.

In May of 2014 in a game vs the Padres, Jose Fernandez felt elbow discomfort in his elbow. After the game and X-rays the Marlins and Jose found out there was tear in his UCL that required Tommy John Surgery which ended his season.

Now it’s July 2nd, roughly 400 days since the injury, he will be back.

But what do we expect out of him?

Let’s be fair and honest, probably won’t see 2013 Rookie Of The Year today. It will take time for Jose to get back to his normal form, if he ever gets back to his normal form but even if you get 75% of what he was then he’s still a really good pitcher.

Before his return to the Majors, Jose pitched 24.2 innings in the Minors on a rehab assignment. 19.2 of those innings were in Jupiter (High A) where he posted a 11.4 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, a LOB% of 72.8% and he posted a very good FIP of 1.94 ( 3.20 ERA).

In most of his rehab starts in Jupiter, Jose’s velocity hung around 97 MPH and his slider was on.

The other 5 innings pitched were in AA Jacksonville, his numbers weren’t great but rehab starts aren’t about numbers it’s about getting your mechanics right. In those 5 innings Jose posted a FIP of 3.95 (7.20 ERA)

Now he faces the defending champions Giants. Jose said he will be nervous today and hopes his first pitch is a strike because he thinks it will calm him.

The stadium should be rocking later today with the “The Kid” on the mound. The Marlins expect sold out crowds and record Cuban Sandwiches (also lots of hot dogs will be sold because it’s $1 hot dogs).

Today is Christmas in July for baseball nerds, whether you are excited for Jose, Matt or Matt. Today will be a great day for baseball fans and the game itself.

Oh, and hey the rest of the MLB, “The Kid” is back.

Follow Marlin Maniac on Twitter @MarlinManiac for all your Miami Marlins news, opinion and analysis!

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