Marlins All-Time Pitching Staff: The Best of the Best

Clocking in with a career 133 ERA+, six-foot-seven right-hander Josh Johnson twice made the All Star team during his time with the Marlins. A fourth-round pick of Florida back in 2002, Johnson made his major league debut with the parent club in September of 2005.

In 2006, Johnson co-led the Marlins rotation in wins, going 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.299 WHIP. After two injury-wracked seasons, Johnson returned to go 15-5 in 2009, with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.158 WHIP in a team-leading 33 starts.

In 2010, Johnson led the majors with a 2.41 FIP, and a 0.3 HR/9, while leading the N.L. with a 180 ERA+ and a 2.30 ERA. He got enough votes to finish fifth in the N.L. MVP Award voting, and made his second straight all-star game.

After the 2012 season, Johnson was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a 12-player deal. In 148 games for the Marlins, he was 56-37 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.233 WHIP in 916 2/3 innings.

Six-foot-five right-hander Josh Beckett played the first five seasons of his eventual 14-season major league career in the teal, black, and white of the Florida Marlins.

Although never really the “ace” of the staff, Beckett topped out with a 15-9 record in his final season with the Marlins, in 2005. In 106 games in total, including 103 starts, he was 41-34 with a 3.46 ERA and a 1.235 WHIP, along with 607 K’s in 609 innings.

Miami Beach, FL native Alex Fernandez co-anchored the 1997 Marlins rotation with co-ace Brown. He joined the Marlins from the Chicago White Sox, for whom he was 79-63 with a 3.78 ERA in seven seasons.

In 1997, Fernandez was 17-12 for the Fish, with a 3.59 ERA and 183 K’s in 32 starts. His 1.187 was the second best mark of his career. Although Fernandez wasn’t available through the entire postseason, his game three series-clinching performance in the National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants is one of many career-highlights. He held them to two runs on seven hits in seven innings to earn the victory.

Fernandez missed the entire 1998 campaign, and after returning wasn’t ever quite the same. Still, by the end of his tenure with the Marlins had racked up a solid 117 ERA+ in 414 innings for the Marlins, going 28-24 with a 3.59 ERA.

Academically, two other starters qualified for the rotation with 117 ERA+’s identical to that of Fernandez, Henderson Alvarez and Mark Redman. Fernandez got the nod due to more innings in play.