Miami Marlins change hitting philosophy

Neil Raymond

MIAMI, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 20: A general view of the Miami Marlins logo during the game between the Miami Marlins and the Washington Nationals at Marlins Park on September 20, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

The Miami Marlins are making changes for next season. Manager Don Mattingly is finally gone and a replacement is coming. The offense was so bad that changes in that department are even more necessary. General manager Kim Ng appears to be safe and is an interesting personality whose position is affrcted by the fact that she’s the first female GM. Affected as in firing her would be a major PR catastrophe, unless she does a really terrible job, which might not be entirely her fault, as it also depends on the resources give to her by Bruce Sherman. What’s our new plan to fix hitting though?

The Miami Marlins are going to be utilizing a new strategy to improve our hitting.

What changes to the approach are the Miami Marlins going to be utilizing? The Fish’s hitters have a 24% strikeout rate, which is the fifth highest in the Majors. The plan is to move away from focusing on home runs and turning to a more contact-oriented approach. Will it actually help? Let’s take a look at how some offenses are doing with a similar approach…

The Toronto Blue Jays have the highes batting average among all Major League teams at .261. They’re clearly not an elite team despite going to the playoffs this season (the batting average isn’t hurting them obviously). The New York Yankees are leading the Majors with 244 home runs and are second with 5.04 R/G (runs per game). The Los Angeles Dodgers are leading with 5.29.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a Major League leading .335 OBP as well by the way. The Miami Marlins clearly have numbers to look at and emulate here. I do notice that batting average may not be the main thing to look at, home runs and on-base percentage are more important in my opinion. How do the best teams look like based on strikeouts?

The Cleveland Guardians have 1,082 strikeouts, which is leading the Major Leagues. Second best are the Houston Astros with 1,146. Both teams are division winners, so it’s pretty obvious that the Miami Marlins have the right idea with cutting down on strikeouts.

The Miami Marlins have the right idea with cutting down on strikeouts. We also have the right idea with making changes and improving the offense. I just hope that these improvements won’t backfire and that we get the best players, not the cheapest.

Neil Raymond

Neil Raymond has been a lifelong Miami Marlins fan, with the 2003 playoff run being one of his favorite childhood memories. Neil has been called a "walking encyclopedia" for his knowledge of MLB statistics and the sport's history. He follows every game and actually invented his own statistic for player value on his side project BaseballAnalyzed.com. Writing for Fansided's Marlin Maniac since 2022, he also loves Fantasy Baseball and as such is an FSWA member. Neil also loves to travel, read and follow "Futbol" teams: Germany, Argentina, Greece, Inter Miami, Bayern Munich and NYC FC.