Marlins A to Z: Which Marlins? D’s Marlins

In total, 31 players to appear with the Florida and Miami Marlins over their first 27 seasons had a last name that began with “D.”

That’s about 5 1/4 percent of all the players on the all-time roster.  Only 13 of them were pitchers. As you can imagine, to make a full 26-man roster, I had to be pretty inclusive. After doing 25-man rosters for the first few parts of the series, I decided to expand to 26 and include the designated hitter.

Starting Lineup

Leading off is second baseman Derek Dietrich. Uber-utility guy from 2013 through 2018, Dietrich hit 254/.335/.422 in 608 games with the team, also getting to first a franchise-record 93 times via HBP.

Batting second for the Marlins we have Mario Diaz, who’s playing shortstop. In 1994 and 1995, he also appeared at second and third base, while hitting .274/.306/.360 in 81 games.

Third in the order the Marlins hark back to their first ever lineup for the designated hitter, Orestes Destrade. In 192 games for Florida, he put up a .246/.322/.396 slash line with 25 round-trippers and 102 RBI.

Batting fourth is decorated slugger and first baseman Carlos Delgado. While spending the 2005 season with the Florida Marlins, Delgado hit 33 homers. That’s tied for his eighth-best major league season. Delgado hit .301/.399/.582 in 144 games, with 115 RBI.

The Marlins put Hall-of-Fame right fielder Andre Dawson in right field, batting fifth. Clearly and almost literally on his last legs by the time he joined the Florida Marlins, Dawson slashed out a still-respectable .261/.306/.430 line for the 1995 and 1996 Marlins. He also hit 10 homers and collected 51 RBI.

Coming out sixth, the Marlins have Todd Dunwoody, playing in center field. In 199 games from 1997 through 1999, Dunwoody hit .243/.291/.372 with nine home runs and 55 RBI.

Seventh in the order, the late-great Darren Daulton backstops for the Marlins. A stretch-run trade deadline acquisition from the Philadelphia Phillies, Daulton hit .262/.371/.429 with three home runs and 21 RBI in helping the Florida Marlins to their first World Series Championship.

Greg Dobbs, stationed in left field, bats eighth. He played in 383 games in total for the Florida and Miami Marlins from 2011 through 2014, totaling a .264/.307/.362 line with 15 round-trippers and 110 RBI in 383 games.

Austin Dean, recently departed for St. Louis, rounds out the order and plays at third base. In 98 games over the past two seasons, Dean hit .223/.268/.388 with 10 homers and 35 RBI.

Bench

With only four starting pitchers available, there was room for a five man bench, despite nine starters in the lineup. Outfielder Alejandro De Aza, second baseman Isan Diaz, third bagger Matt Dominguez, and catchers Steve Decker and Brad Davis.

Starting Rotation

Ryan Dempster took 121 turns in the Florida Marlins rotation from 1998 through 2002, racking up an OPS+ of 92. It’s the best mark of the four in the “D” rotation. Dempster went 42-43 with a 4.64 ERA and 395 K’s in 759 2/3 innings.

Odrisamer Despaigne was 4-3 with a 4.52 ERA in 32 games for the Marlins from 2016 through 2018. Although he only took nine turns in the rotation, that’s the second highest figure from this stable of pitchers. Despaigne struck out 49 in 81 2/3 innings.

Robert Dugger made seven starts through the last month of 2019 for the Marlins, going 0-4 with a 5.77 ERA and 25 K’s in 34 1/3 innings.

Anthony DeSclafani started five games out of his 13 overall pitching appearances for the 2014 Florida Marlins. He went 2-2 with a 6.27 ERA and 26 whiffs in 33 innings.

Bullpen

The eight-man bullpen features every other pitcher to play with the club with the last name beginning with “D,” excepting Jesus Delgado and his two innings.

Mike Dunn appeared in a franchise-record 405 games for the Florida and Miami Marlins from 2011 through 2016. He went 26-25 with a 3.59 ERA and 357 whiffs in 328 frames.

Vic Darensbourg pitched in 271 contests for Florida from 1998 through 2002, going 7-15 with a 5.00 ERA.

Sam Dyson played for Miami from 2013 through 2015, pitching in 80 games and racking up a 3.62 ERA.

Brendan Donnelly went 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA in 30 games for the 2009 Florida Marlins, with 25 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings.

Valerio De Los Santos pitched 22 innings for the 2005 version of the team, finishing with a 6.14 ERA and 16 strikeouts.

Brian Drahman appeared nine times in 1994 for the Marlins, with seven strikeouts in 13 innings.

Matt Dunbar played for the Marlins in 1995, striking out five in seven innings while allowing 11 walks and 12 hits.

Frankie De La Cruz gave up 18 earned runs in nine innings of work in 2008.