3 Miami Marlins players who must do better in May

1. LF BRYAN DE LA CRUZ

Bryan De La Cruz debuted in 2021 with an impressive .296/.356/.427 batting line with 5 home runs and 19 RBI, in 58 games and 199 AB. It was a great and promising debut, with a lot of expectations coming up for the following season. Could he post similar numbers over a full season? That was the question with Bryan going into the 2022 season.

In 2022, Bryan De La Cruz batted .252/.294/.432, with 13 home runs and 43 RBI in 115 games and 329 AB. This was....not very inspiring. He was certainly more talented than his batting line suggested, but it was still a very underwhelming follow-up season. That is until you realize that it was a season of two halves...

In the first half of the 2022 season, Bryan De La Cruz batted .209/.257/.353 in the first half. In the second half, De La Cruz batted .310/.342/.535. He actually got moved to third in the batting order as he kept hitting. In that second half, De La Cruz turned into a legitimate middle of the order bat. This was extremely promising for 2023, but the slugger is currently batting just .253/.296/.374 in 25 games and 91 AB.

Can Bryan De La Cruz improve on that batting line this season? Bryan's BABIP is a surprisingly high .362, with his career mark at .337. De La Cruz's Exit Velocity is 91.5, which is the highest that he's ever had. He's consistently hitting the ball hard, but hits far too many ground balls. De La Cruz's GB% is 51.7%. It was 42.4% last season. Can he get it down, and hit more fly balls?

Bryan De La Cruz has a great Exit Velocity, and was a middle of the order bat in the second half of last season. Can he get back to that level this season? Can he become a middle of the order bat this season too? I really hope that he does, because another big bat is exactly what the Miami Marlins need in the middle of the lineup. Time will tell if he will turn the corner in May.