Miami Marlins at Chicago Cubs: Three stories to watch

How Will The Marlins Use Barraclough? 

The time has come to take a pretty close look at Miami Marlins reliever Kyle Barraclough.

He did have a brilliant 6th inning in Sunday’s finale, but that was also only the second time in his last twelve appearances he managed to avoid allowing a baserunner. The Marlins were just granted the honor of having the Bullpen of the Week.

But lost in the praise was the fact that Miami’s only losses in their past ten games fall pretty much exclusively on Barraclough’s shoulders.

Three of his past five outings have resulted in runs, and his penchant for issuing free passes has led a sickening 8.1 BB/9 rate for the season. The question of whether he can be trusted in any kind of close situation may have been briefly put aside by yesterday’s performance, but still has to be pressing on Don Mattingly‘s mind.

So keep an eye on how Barraclough is deployed these next few games. The initial answer will be pretty telling as to whether Sunday’s outing is being viewed as an aberration or a turning point. Personally, I think he needs to put together one or two more lower impact innings before being trusted in a Hold situation again.

Next: Check Out The Marlins No-Nos

That’s all for this series Marlin Maniacs. Here’s to the hoping the Marlins can do their best to keep that victory flag from flying, and the singing at Wrigley limited to those seventh inning cameos. Catch you Thursday for the Pirates.