Wouldn’t it be crazy… A Miami Marlins optimists guide to finishing over .500

The Miami Marlins have hovered within striking distance of .500 for weeks now. After a topsy-turvy season, wouldn’t it be crazy if they finished above even?

After the Miami Marlins and their super bullpen fell apart during the second month of the season, their record has played catch-up ever since. At one point, the team was as many as 13 games below the .500 mark.

Now they’ve pulled within five games of getting back all the way to even… again. The Miami Marlins have hovered in the range of four, five, or six games below the even number for weeks now. What is it going to take to get all the way back?

After all the injuries, fire sale rumors, and the ongoing botched team sale fiasco, wouldn’t it be crazy if the Miami Marlins managed to finish the season over .500?

To get there, the team is going to have to throw their winning ways into a higher gear. With 51 games remaining in the season, the Miami Marlins will need to go 29-22 the rest of the way. If they can manage to do that, they’ll end the year 82-80.

Is that the finish everyone was hoping for when the season started? Of course not. Everyone hoped that the team would win 90 games and secure a playoff spot. That seems unlikely after a nightmarish month of May.

But there is no denying that the team has played much better since then. They seem to have gotten out of their own way. Starting pitching remains the biggest concern, with no definite answers coming anytime soon. If the team fails to get all the way back, that’s the likeliest culprit.

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In spite of it though, the Miami Marlins have managed to slug their way to enough win to give the optimist hope.

Trending in the right direction

The Miami Marlins gave themselves a chance by finishing their worst month of the year with a flourish. After struggling all through May, they closed it out with three consecutive series wins, including a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Since then, they have finished with a winning record each month of the year. They managed to go 14-13 in June, and 14-12 in July. They are 4-3 to start the month of August. Needing to make up a lot of ground en route to a .500 finish, they’ll need to finish with at least a .600 winning percentage this month.

The good news is the team is playing their best brand of baseball all season. Giancarlo Stanton has vaulted himself to the top of the home run race and is putting together the best year of his career. The Miami Marlins have shown they are good enough to put up wins in bunches.

Next: Getting to know you: Javy Guerra

Winning a Major League Baseball game is one of the hardest things there is to do. The Miami Marlins will have to do a lot of it if they want to finish the season over .500; at least an 82-80 record.

They’re a 38-30 ball club since dropping three-of-four to the Los Angeles Dodgers way back in May. If they can improve slightly on that pace, they’ll find themselves above the equator when the season ends.