A disappointing series may change the course of the season for the Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins just lost 2 out of 3 games at home to the Atlanta Braves. I previewed the series and pointed out how important it was to our team. Unfortunately, we lost the series and are now at the bottom of the division, where do The Fish go from here? It’s still early in the season, but every series counts and affects the trajectory of the season.

The Miami Marlins lost an important series.

The Miami Marlins are now in fourth place in the NL East, 8.5 games out of first place and 4.5 games behind the last Wild Card spot. The division seems harder and harder to win. Injuries to the 1-2 punch at the top of the division dominating New York Mets, seem to have given other teams in the division a sudden shot at overcoming their large lead. It hasn’t necessarily been the case so far, and losing this series at home was a big part of this issue.

The games that the Miami Marlins lost were close. The Fish lost 5-3 on Friday and 4-3 on Saturday, before winning 4-3 on Sunday to avoid the embarrassing sweep. Those close losses do make you wonder if it wasn’t a bit of a fluke. After all, it’s not as if The Fish couldn’t have made up the differences in the losses with better luck. Trevor Rogers gave up 3(!) home runs on Friday, which was instrumental in that day’s loss.

I already discussed Trevor Rogers and his struggles earlier this season. Perhaps it is worse than I thought, and Rogers just won’t get back on track this season. I really believe that he’s just tipping his pitches and that when he gets that fixed, we’ll once again see the Cy Young candidate from last season. We are seeing a different version to say the least this season. A better performance from him could’ve turned this series around.

Where do the Miami Marlins go from here? The 4.5 game Wild Card deficit seems to be much easier to overcome and I’m not a believer in the San Francisco Giants (who hold the last NL Wild Card spot). The Miami Marlins are good enough to overcome that deficit and if we don’t, the right moves at the trade deadline can bring us closer to our next dynasty.