Four Times Through: Miami Marlins Starting Rotation

The Miami Marlins are having a rough go of it early in the 2019 campaign.

Now just 5-15 after an eighth of the season has been completed, the Miami Marlins are on pace for a 40- or 41-win season. After beginning the season going 3-6, they lost five-in-a-row, then Caleb Smith put a stop to that with a 10-3 victory over the Phillies. Another four-game losing streak followed, and again, Smith put a stop to it with a 3-2 win on Friday night over the Washington Nationals.

This season, we’re going to keep tabs on the Miami Marlins starting rotation, and how they match up to one another. I’ll be ranking them by using a weighted GameScore system over their last 10 starts, with the most recent start assigned the most weight. Using this homemade metric, we’ll start with the best performer thus far. Not surprisingly, it’s Smith, by a wide margin.

Caleb Smith – GS: 58, 57, 74, 66, Weighted GS: 64.4

After four games, Smith is 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA and 29 K’s in 23 innings of work. His 0.87 WHIP leads the rotation by a wide margin.

In Smith’s victory on Friday night, the 27-year-old Texan lefty earned his second win in his last two starts. He struck out eight Nationals and limited Washington to one run on five hits and zero walks.

Trevor Richards – GS: 62, 54, 72, 35, Weighted GS: 54.8

The Miami Marlins have lost each of Trevor Richards four starts through the first three weeks of the season. Miami has given Richards an average of only two runs scored in his support through his starts.

Richards has surrendered one home run over his first 22 2/3 innings, striking out 21 and walking 14 and keeping up a 1.235 WHIP. In his last start, his worst of the season by a wide margin, he took the loss to the Chicago Cubs in a 7-2 decision. Over 4 2/3 innings, he struck out three and allowed five run-on four hits and four walks.

Pablo López – GS: 53, 41, 25, 44, Weighted GS: 46.5

In Lopez’ first four starts, the Miami Marlins have scored seven runs, an average of 1.75 per game. Unfortunately, all seven runs came in his first start. In each of his last three starts, the Marlins suffered a shutout loss

Lopez has pitched 20 innings in total, and hasn’t pitched past the 5 1/3 inning mark or thrown more than 89 pitches in a game. He’s struck out 23 and allowed 24 hits, but only allowed three walks for a running WHIP of 1.350. His last start, on April 16th, he struck out six over five frames, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk. HIs modest 44 GameScore was his second best of the season.

Sandy Alcantara – GS: 80, 41, 25, 44, Weighted GS: 45.7

Alcantara had the best start of his career on March 31st, racking up a GameScore of 80 by whiffing six over eight shutout, four hit frames, walking zero. Since then, he’s put up less-than-acceptable numbers, and now has a 5.09 ERA and a 1.478 WHIP along with a 1-2 record.

In his last start, this past Wednesday, the Marlins were shut out by the Chicago Cubs by a 6-0 final score. Alcantara surrendered five earned runs over six innings, on seven hits and a walk. He struck out seven, and now has 19 K’s in 23 innings.

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José Ureña – GS: 25, 31, 36, 66, Weighted GS: 41.4

Ureña started the season with the third worst start of his career, and got slightly better in each of the next two subsequent starts. He’s now 0-3 with a 6.53 ERA, 17 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings, and a 1.742 WHIP.

In Ureña’s last start, a home game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, he struck out seven and allowed only one run, on seven hits and zero walks in seven innings. Will his fifth start, later today against the Nationals, continue the trend of improvement?

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