Are the Miami Marlins underperforming based on expectations?

Looking through Twitter, I noticed that some fans are down on the Miami Marlins this season and think that the team is underperforming based on expectations. It’s a fact that The Fish are unlucky so far this season. The Miami Marlins should have a 23-23 record not our current 19-27 one. The New York Mets should be 33-18 not 34-17, the Atlanta Braves are right where they should be at 23-27, the Washington Nationals should be 19-32 not 18-33 and the Philadelphia Phillies should be 25-25 not 21-29. Are the Miami Marlins underachieving though?

The Miami Marlins are playing as expected.

Let’s take a look at some of the pre-season projections.. The Sporting News expected the Miami Marlins to finish 80-82 in fourth place in the NL East and miss the playoffs. ESPN projected 77-85, CBS projected a fourth place finish… I can keep going but I think that you’re getting the picture. The Fish were expected to be the team that we currently are.

Not one of the major sources picked the Miami Marlins to win the division or even have a united consensus on The Fish making the playoffs. FOX Sports had us at 76.5 wins. It certainly doesn’t appear as if this was an expected playoff team that is shockingly not in playoff position on June 1. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening this season.

Are the Miami Marlins standing pat and doing nothing to improve? There was a superstar projection though.. Many sources predicted what I wrote about, that Jazz Chisholm Jr. was going to be a break-out player this season. The playoffs however were rarely predicted and only if “everything went well”. In 2021, the Miami Marlins finished the season at 67-95, we can certainly do a lot better when we should be a .500 team.

The Miami Marlins weren’t expected to make the playoffs or win the division and are not on track to do either unfortunately. It makes no sense to be upset and be surprised by how things are going. The goal is to improve and eventually build a perennial contending team. We have an elite farm system and elite pitching. “Patience is a virtue”, a championship run is within sight.