Miami Marlins History: All-Time Top 20 OPS (an in-depth look, 20-11)

In Miami Marlins history, 560 players have gotten into a game for at least one plate appearance, either pitching or hitting. 111 of them have had at least 300 plate appearances, which we’re setting as our cutoff for today’s rankings.

On this player list, there are Miami Marlins who started with the team in 1993, one guy who is still with the team, and at least one player from every season in between. I counted pitchers in the calculations, but there were only a few with over 300 plate appearances. Namely, A.J. Burnett, Josh Johnson, Dontrelle Willis, & Ricky Nolasco. The most accomplished of the bunch was easily Dontrelle Willis, but he ranks 93rd on our list, with a mark of .639. Just behind Matt Treanor and just ahead of Rick Renteria. Remarkably, the cutoff OPS for this article just so happened to fall at .800, generally considered the mark for an excellent player. I used baseball-reference.com to research all the statistics cited in this article.

We will be publishing articles such as this weekly from this time forward, with a different metric measured and ranked each time. Let us know what you think in the comments. Is there something you want to see?

Just Missed

Mike Jacobs (.796)

Mike Jacobs only played for the Florida Marlins for three seasons, and hit .258 I We n 391 games. With 69 home runs, he ranks 16th on the Marlins all-time list, and his 224 RBI rank him 20th. It’s perhaps a reflection of how “Replacement Level” is measured from year to year, but Jacobs did not finish any Marlins’ season with a positive WAR. In fact, his most prolific season, 2008, he hit 32 home runs with 93 RBI, but also finished the season with a career-low -2.0 WAR.

Cody Ross (.788)

Cody Ross, also known as “Ross the Boss,” and also, “Toy Cannon,” joined the Florida Marlins in 2006 and stayed with the team until mid-2010. In 573 contests, he racked up 80 homers and 297 RBI, both marks good for 13th all-time with the team.

Marcell Ozuna (.786)

Marcell Ozuna’s 96 home runs with the team ranks 11th in Miami Marlins history, as do his 361 RBI. Ozuna was with the club for five seasons, from 2013 through last year. As we all know, the Miami Marlins traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals for Daniel Castano, Zac Gallen, Sandy Alcantara, and Magneuris Sierra. Sierra is the only non-pitcher that Miami got in the deal, and so the only one of these four who may one day end up on this list (or one like it).

Justin Ruggiano (.781)

The Miami Marlins are only one of eight teams for whom Justin Ruggiano played for at the major league level. In 219 games, he hit 31 homers and 86 RBI with a .258 average. He started his career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and after the Marlins also appeared with the Chicago Cubs, the Seattle Mariners, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Texas Rangers, the New York Mets, and the San Francisco Giants.

Jorge Cantu (.780)

Jorge Cantu spent most of three seasons with the Florida Marlins, beginning in 2008. He hit .278 while with the team, smacking 55 homers and 249 RBI over 401 contests.