The Miami Marlins are the perfect cure for a scrambled MLB season

With everything that has happened in the first two weeks of the MLB season, the Miami Marlins are the perfect cure for a season that has surprised us all.

If the Miami Marlins in fact get to the postseason after overcoming the beginning of this season, then Don Mattingly should be praised for pushing all the right buttons.

The 2020 MLB season, all 60 games, might be the toughest to navigate through based on its sprinter’s pace and what this franchise has already gone through in only two week’s time. After a start, stop and restart it’s only fitting the Marlins are thriving.

At least for now.

Mattingly has put together a 727-734 record as an MLB manager. It highlights how good his teams were in Los Angeles and on the opposite end, how porous the rosters in South Florida have been. Having the chance to start from scratch two seasons ago and buying into what his one-time teammate with the Yankees, Derek Jeter, is doing takes plenty of patience.

Following the team’s wins on Thursday night, Mattingly summed up how this season has progressed so far.

“It’s like a little eye-opener today, especially,” he said. “Seeing guys we haven’t seen. Some of our guys, we don’t know what we’re going to get necessarily. Some of our guys have just been sitting for awhile.”

It’s a “Marlins vs. MLB” kind of scenario, with the team taking on all challenges and finding success for now. Personally, I love it. I did not expect the 60-game season to have as many twists and turns as it has so far in a short time frame, but this plays well into a chapter of this baseball organization it has used before to surprise the masses.

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Not many other managers would have weathered this storm. Mattingly, who is one of the most likable guys you will meet in this sport, has won over his clubhouse. New additions like Jonathan Villar and Jesus Aguilar have also bought into the idea of this rebuild is nearly finished. My hope is both players are in Marlins’ uniforms well after this season to see the progress that has been made.

In a perfect world, the Marlins would be part of a playoff race with 162 games on the schedule. About this time, other organizations would be picking up the phone, checking to see who is available and what type of offer can be made for players or prospects.

If Miami plays this well in a few weeks, Jeter or Michael Hill, president of baseball operations, might be the one making the call to see how they could bolster this roster. Chances are, the Marlins may stay put. If it’s not broken, then why fix what isn’t in shambles?

The Marlins take the field again tonight in the finale against the Baltimore Orioles. Another win would continue to write a storybook ending. Jordan Yamamoto gets the call on the mound tonight. It’s another chance for the youngster to show he belongs on the Major League roster. He is also one of my favorite players, having covered him here in Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Miami Marlins Double-A affiliate.

The best thing about all of this excitement surrounding the Marlins is that baseball is back. It’s not the same product fans my age grew up on. But it rekindles the masses. If the Marlins can continue to prove their doubters wrong, Major League Baseball is better because this small-payroll team is winning despite the hard lessons learned at the start of the season.