Do Miami Marlins Still Have Hope This Season?

Going into August, the Miami Marlins were slotted as the second wild card team in the National League and things were looking positive for the organization in their quest to potentially end their playoff drought of 13 seasons. Dee Gordon was coming back from his PED suspension. The Fish acquired starting pitcher Andrew Cashner. And Giancarlo Stanton was starting to hit like he’s capable of hitting.

But things quickly went south for the ball club once the month of August arrived. The Marlins were awful in August with a record of 11 wins and 17 losses while being one of the worst scoring teams in all of baseball for the month.

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The inconsistencies with all aspects of the team have caused the Fish to drop back five games of the second wild card spot, which is held by the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets are also ahead of the Marlins in the race for that last playoff ticket.

But why have things gone south for the Fish?

Well to start off, Gordon hasn’t really done much to help the team at all since being reinstated by Major League Baseball. Cashner has been so-so since being acquired by the Fish, as evidenced by the fact that last night’s victory was his first with the Marlins. And injuries to key contributors have really taken a toll on the team.

Giancarlo Stanton, who suffered a left groin strain, was the most notable injury that hurt the Fish because of all of his contributions for the ball club. His home run power, his ability to drive in runs, the protection that he provides Christian Yelich, and just his overall presence in the lineup were all missed while he was on the disabled list. Stanton was out of action for various weeks and still is the team leader with 25 HRs, and second on the team behind Yelich with 70 RBI.

But that wasn’t the only injury that hurt the ball club. Justin Bour was on the DL for over a month with an ankle sprain. His injury was a huge factor of the team’s struggles. When Bour went on the DL, he had 15 HRs and 46 RBI. That level of production was nonexistent from the first base position while Bour was sidelined.

Adam Conley, who has arguably been the team’s second best starting pitcher this season, is still on the disabled list. Conley has a pitching stat line of 8 wins and 6 losses with a 3.94 earned run average. Since Conley’s injury, the Fish have tried numerous guys to take over his spot, but without success.

The team’s biggest free agent pick up this offseason, Wei Yin Chen, has been on the DL since late July with tenderness in his pitching elbow. Derek Dietrich, who did a great job filling in for Dee Gordon during his suspension, was on the DL as well. A.J. Ramos, who made the All Star team this season, missed a few games. And Marcell Ozuna, the team’s All Star outfielder, missed a week as well.

Each of those players were all key contributors to the Marlins success through the first half of the season, and you can see why a team would struggle so much to be consistent missing so many key parts. Bour, Ozuna, Stanton, Dietrich and Ramos are now all back and trying to contribute to the team, which should make Don Mattingly happy.

Next: Powerful Pinchers

The Marlins are now seven games into September and they have gone just 2-5 during that stretch. They have their work cut out for them, as reaching the playoffs is still possible, although a long shot with less than a month left in the regular season. It’s going to take consistency on the offensive end and great starting pitching to even stay in the race for the last wild card spot. The season was looking so promising and it would be a disappointment to end the season in poor fashion. Reaching the playoffs should still be the team’s main goal, but finishing above .500 should also be a huge goal of theirs, to be able to show drastic improvement from their embarrassing records over the last few seasons. If the Fish don’t make the playoffs, but can still find a way to finish with a record above .500, the Marlins organization and fan base should all be content with the improvement that the team made this season.