Miami Marlins Win One of Three Against Phillies: Post Series Grades

The Miami Marlins dropped two of three in their road series against the Philadelphia Phillies. This included one historically bad 20-1 loss on Saturday. We’re going to take a closer look at the 23 Marlins who appeared.

I used the Wins Probability Added metric (WPA) to help ascertain which players performed in the higher leverage situations. In other words, if the Miami Marlins are winning, 6-0, a plate appearance doesn’t count as much. Conversely, an at bat with two on and two out in the bottom of the 13th has a very high leverage.

There’s something else you need to understand about WPA. Every game has a collective WPA of zero. The winning team will finish with a total of .50, and the losing team will have -.50. As such, it’s not a great predictor of future performance. What it can tell you is which players performed best when the chips were down.

Miami’s bullpen and every position player got into at least one game. Since it was only three games, Jose Urena didn’t appear on this list. Braxton Lee got sent down and back up again during this series, Tyler Cloyd joined the team, and Jacob Turner began with Miami and ended up getting designated for assignment.

For comparison’s sake, I’ll take a moment here to outline Philadelphia’s best performers.

Maikel Franco +.340

Nick Pivetta +.213

Edubray Ramos +.175

Rhys Hoskins +.141

Cesar Hernandez +.122

Miguel Rojas +.187

Miguel Rojas, now a 29-year-old infielder, was originally part of the Cincinnati Reds organization when signed as a teen in 2005. After working his way up to the triple-A level in 2012, the Reds granted his free agency. That’s where the Los Angeles Dodgers picked him up.

After a season in double-A for the Dodgers, Rojas split the 2014 season between their triple-A club and the parent organization. After 85 games in which he slashed just .181/.242/.221, Los Angeles included him as a toss-in with Dee Gordon and Dan Haren. The Marlins gave up Austin Barnes, Chris Hatcher, Andrew Heaney, and Enrique Hernandez in the deal.

Rojas started the first game of the series batting seventh and striking out to end the second inning. He grounded out to open the fifth, then grounded out again to end the seventh.

In Game Two, the 20-1 loss, Rojas hit a single in the second inning with a man on first. That was worth a +.070 WPA because it was before the contest was truly out of reach. He flew out for the second out of the fourth when the Marlins were down by eight. In the seventh, he struck out for the second out of the inning when down by 18 runs.

Game Three was close for most of the contest, so the leverage added to each plate appearance was higher. Rojas batted second and hit a one-out homer in the top of the first to start things out. That was worth +.098 WPA. Later, he grounded out to shortstop to close the second (-.010) and grounded into a double play for the first two outs of the fifth (-.099). His leadoff HBP in the eighth was worth (+.068), and of course Rojas came across with the eventual winning run. He flew out to center to end the Marlins ninth.

Odrisamer Despaigne +.187

Odrisamer Despaigne is a 6′, 200 lb. right handed pitcher from La Habana, Cuba. Born on April 4th, 1987, the now-31-year-old pitcher is serving as Miami’s swing-reliever/emergency starter.

Despaigne was a reliever and a rotation starter with Industriales de La Habana for eight seasons, and racked up a 58-42 record with a 3.73 ERA against roughly triple-A level competition before defecting.

Despaigne signed with the San Diego Padres in 2014, and made 16 starts for the Padres. He struck out 65 in 96 1/3 innings, racking up a 4-7 record, a 3.36 ERA, and a 1.215 WHIP.

Another season in and out of San Diego’s rotation resulted in a 5-9 record and a 5.80 ERA in 18 starts and 16 relief appearances. His WHIP also ballooned to 1.385, and he totaled just 69 whiffs in 125 2/3 innings. The Padres traded him to the Baltimore Orioles for Jean Cosme in February 2016.

Despaigne pitched in 16 games for Baltimore, all in relief. In 27 1/3 innings, he had a 1.720 WHIP and a 5.60 ERA, with 17 whiffs in 27 1/3 innings. The Orioles tried to pass him through waivers late in that season, but the Marlins picked him up for minimal cost.

Through his first two seasons with the Marlins, Despaigne appeared 21 times in total, starting eight times and going 2-3 with a 4.41 ERA. He has struck out 31 in 61 1/3 innings with the Marlins.

In this series, Despaigne only appeared once, for two innings. They were perfect innings, which is only significant due to when they happened. That is, they were the highest leverage innings the Marlins played against the Phillies. He struck out two batters in the sixth and seventh innings of the third game, Miami’s 6-3 victory on Sunday.

Braxton Lee +.088

Braxton Lee can hit, field, and run, and will never, NEVER be out hustled. He led the Southern League last season with a .309 average, and could be an above-average leadoff man for years in the majors with the Miami Marlins.

Lee is a 5’10”, 185 lb. center fielder from Picayune, MS. Now 24-years-old, he played the first three-and-a-half seasons of his pro career in the Tampa Bay organization. He slashed .321/.391/.401 with Tampa Bay’s Southern League affiliate, the Montgomery Biscuits through 60 games in 2017.

On June 26th, Lee was included in the trade which made Adeiny Hechavarria a Ray. Ethan Clark was also sent to the Marlins’ system. Lee stayed in the Southern League, joining the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and eventually winning the SL batting title. He then slashed .347/.398/.400 in the Arizona Fall League with the Salt River Rafters.

Lee can play all three outfield positions, but has played 382 of his 394 career contests in center. He carries a .988 fielding percentage at the position, having made only 13 errors in 1051 total chances. He also has 48 outfield assists over his four seasons in the minors.

After going 0-for-4 in Miami’s 17-inning loss to the Cubs, Lee was sent back down again, then called up before Miami’s series with the Phils. In the opener, he reached base to lead off the eighth on an error by Cesar Hernandez. That was worth +.013.

In Game Two, Lee singled to second base, but the Marlins were down 19 runs and it was the ninth inning, so it had no impact on the game and no leverage to speak of.

In the third game, on Sunday, Lee hit a two-out single in the bottom of the first to give Miami a 3-0 lead. That play was worth +.143. He struck out looking to lead off the fourth and the seventh.

Chris O’Grady +.068

Chris O’Grady is what they call “rubber armed.” He appeared in each of Miami’s first three contests this season against the Cubs. In 2 1/3 innings, he allowed a hit and a walk, striking out three. He then appeared in the series opener against the Red Sox, giving up a solo homer and a walk.

A 27-year-old lefty, he was a 10th round selection of the Anaheim Angels in 2012.

O’Grady spent five seasons working his way up through the Angels’ system, starting with the Orem Owls. He later played with the Burlington Bees, the Inland Empire 66ers, the Salt Lake Bees, and the Arkansas Travelers. Despite his travails, he never graduated to the major league level while with the organization.

The Angels released O’Grady in April of 2017, and the Marlins picked him up two weeks later. At the major league level, he went 2-1 with a 4.36 ERA. He started in six of his 13 appearances, and helped himself to a 1.545 WHIP and 30 whiffs in 33 innings in total.

O’Grady didn’t appear in the Phillies opener, but came in for a perfect 1 1/3 innings, closing the fourth by striking out Odubel Herrera and striking out two more in a perfect fifth. Unfortunately, his appearance began and ended with the Marlins trailing by a 17-1 count. The solid performance had almost no bearing on the outcome of the game, so there was not a positive WPA value.

O’Grady pitched the fifth inning in Sunday’s game, and surrendered only a walk to hold the 3-3 tie with the Phillies.

Starlin Castro +.066

One of the newest Miami Marlins, Starlin Castro is a 6’2″, 230 lb. right-handed hitting middle-infielder from Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic. Even though he has just turned 28-years-old, he’s entering his ninth major league season. After six seasons with the Cubs, he spent the last two with with the Yankees.

Castro is listed as a shortstop / second baseman. He spent his first five years with the Cubs as their starter at shortstop. Since then, he’s appeared primarily at second base. Expected to man the load for the Marlins this season at shortstop, he’s yet to net a Gold Glove.

That’s not to say that Castro is substandard at the second base position. Far from it. After 297 games at second, his fielding percentage rates higher (.975) than at shortstop in 847 games (.963).

Offensively, Castro has slashed .282/.320/.413 through his career. He’s a three-time .300+ hitter, reaching the mark in 2010 for the Cubs and in 2017 with the Yankees, and surpassing it with a .307 mark in 2011 with Chicago. It’s not out of character to expect him to approach the mark once again.

Castro’s 99 career homers are concentrated at the back half of his career to this point. From a 0.6% as a rookie to a mark of 3.4% in each of the last two years.

Castro batted third through the whole series, and started out in game one with a two-out single (+.012). He flew out to right with one out in the fourth (-.015), then flew out to center for the second out of the sixth (-.030). He flew out for the second out of the ninth (-.002).

In Game Two, Castro doubled to center field with one out, none on, and one in in the top of the first. (+.036). He mostly erased that for the first out of the third with a man on first, when he forced Lewis Brinson out at second with an infield grounder.  (-.027). He grounded out to lead off the sixth (-.001).

Game Three would see Castro draw a walk in the top of the first (+.022) and later scored. He struck out looking to lead off the third (-.022) and grounded out to end the fifth (-.015). He drew a walk with a man on first and nobody out in the eighth inning (+.099), scoring on Brian Anderson’s double.

Brian Anderson -.001

Anderson went 1-for-3 in the opener, as the Marlins lost 5-0. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in Game Two as the Marlins were defeated by quite a bit. Game three would see him go one-for-three with a pair of RBI on the eighth-inning game-winning hit. He also drew a walk.

Yadiel Rivera -.004

Rivera was 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter on Saturday and was 0-for-1 with a strikeout on Sunday.

Jacob Turner -.005

Turner pitched one inning on Saturday, facing a dozen batters and collecting just three outs. He surrendered eight runs in that inning, and was sent down for his performance and replaced by Tyler Cloyd.

Tomas Telis -.025

Telis was 0-for-1 on Thursday, 0-for-2 on Saturday, and didn’t play on Sunday.

Chad Wallach -.052

Wallach was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts on Saturday. He didn’t appear on Thursday or on Sunday.

Cameron Maybin -.060

Maybin started the series with two strikeouts in three fruitless at bats on Thursday. He was 1-for-3 with another pair of strikeouts on Saturday, and drew a walk in his only plate appearance on Sunday.

Bryan Holaday -.066

Holaday was 0-for-2 with a strikeout on Thursday. On Friday, he turned in one of Miami’s most memorable moments of the day. He took the mound in the eighth, and pitched a perfect eight-pitch inning. He even struck out Rhys Hoskins on a 62 MPH palmball. In Sunday’s game, he was 1-for-4 with an RBI, but that was Miami’s last RBI, to make it 6-3 Marlins in the eighth.

Lewis Brinson -.079

Brinson was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in the series opener on Thursday. On Saturday, he was 0-for-3 with a walk, then on Sunday, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

Trevor Richards -.111

Richards second start was nominally better than the first, in that he left this game with a tie score. He allowed six hits and three walks in just four innings, for three earned runs. He also struck out two. His performance was the best from amongst the three starters in the series.

Justin Bour -.120

Bour started out 1-for-4 on Thursday, with a strikeout. On Saturday, he was 0-for-4 with two whiffs. He drew a walk and collected a hit on Sunday, striking out once.

Caleb Smith -.179

Caleb Smith started on Thursday, and lasted three innings. He only gave up two hits, but somehow walked six. He struck out two and allowed three earned runs.

Dillon Peters -.520

Peters gave up nine runs in 2 2/3 innings, running his road ERA to a hard-to-fathom 13.22. He allowed nine hits and three walks, also striking out three.