3 Takeaways from the Miami Marlins weekend series

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The Miami Marlins just won two out of three against the Houston Astros…on the road! This was very impressive and it makes sense to take a look and see what we learned from this series. What the takeaways are in other words. It makes sense to look at the box scores for the Friday game that we won 7-4, the Saturday game that we won 5-1 and the Sunday game that we unfortunately lost 9-4.

The Miami Marlins won a major series.

The Miami Marlins are a better team than our record indicates

27-31 isn’t a good record, we all know it. The thing is it’s based on bad luck. The “luckless” Pythagorean win-loss record, that shows just how good the Miami Marlins REALLY are is 31-27. This is a big deal, as The Fish would be 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot, instead of 5.5 games.

The Miami Marlins won on the ROAD against a team that won three out of the last five American League pennants. This is a team that is running away with their division (the AL West), a division that they won annually since 2017 (minus the shortened 2020 season). This was a major series win and shows that The Fish may not be ready to be written off as sellers.

Bad luck is unfortunately a part of the sport and that’s the sad reality as to why the Miami Marlins don’t have an impressive record. Luck has a funny way of evening out, so more winning streaks feels just about right for our favorite team. This of course requires some patience from the fans, but the reward is definitely waiting.

The Miami Marlins may not make the playoffs this season, or maybe we will. Even if we won’t, we’re clearly good enough to contend for the playoffs and are pretty much guaranteed to be better than last season. This is definitely not a bad team and this series proves it.

2. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is the best second baseman in the game

MIAMI, FLORIDA – JUNE 07: Jazz Chisholm Jr. #2 of the Miami Marlins hits a grand slam in the second inning against the Washington Nationals at loanDepot park on June 07, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /

I wrote about how Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a superstar who the Miami Marlins need to market to the fullest. Chisholm showed just how great he is in this series. He hit two (yes TWO) home runs in the first game of the series. He wasn’t as impressive in the next two games, but that’s partly because manager Don Mattingly shields him from lefty pitchers.

Is that really the smart move? We’ll look into that in a separate article later. For now though consider just how great Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been for the Miami Marlins this season. The young superstar has a 2.0 WAR and 12 home runs and 40 RBI. At this rate we’re looking at an almost 30 home run season from him with possibly 80+ RBI. The RBI will be affected by him batting lead-off of course.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is an absolute stud and will end up winning the Miami Marlins that memorable trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Did I mention that Chisholm is also with a speedster with 10 stolen bases so far this season (he had 23 last season). He also has a great 0.5 dWAR, showing that great defense is a strength for him as well.

What if Don Mattingly let Jazz Chisholm Jr. play more often? As in against lefty starting pitchers. Would Jazz be even better? The two home run performance by Jazz is only the beginning, as I fully expect him to continue getting better the older he gets and the more experience that he gets (he’s just 24 years old at the moment). By the way vote for him for the all-star game.

3. Edward Cabrera is still an ace

JUPITER, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 19: Edward Cabrera #79 of the Miami Marlins poses for a photo during Photo Day at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on February 19, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Edward Cabrera broke out as a legit ace for the Miami Marlins this season, but he’s also human and as great as he is, he won’t always pitch that great. Case in point: this series. Cabrera faced off against timeless ace Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros. Cabrera didn’t do that well…5 runs and 7 hits in 3.2 innings in the third game.

Let’s not let that one poor game make us forget that Edward Cabrera has an ability to be an elite strikeout pitcher. Let’s not forget that Edward Cabrera was an elite prospect for a reason. More importantly let’s not forget that he was pitching against one of the best offenses in the Majors and a potential AL Cy Young candidate.

Another important thing to remember is that Cabrera is a young guy. He is only 24 years old (just like Chisholm). It’s crazy to expect him to be phenomenal in every game and to compete with a future Hall of Famer like Verlander. The fact that some of us thought that he could do it, speaks for the ability that Cabrera has.

Edward Cabrera had a bad start and the Miami Marlins lost the final game of the series…on the road I should repeat. Winning two out of three against the Houston Astros on the road excuses the fact that it wasn’t an even more shocking sweep.

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3 Takeaways from the Miami Marlins winning the weekend series against the Houston Astros

The Miami Marlins won a major series.

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