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3 Miami Marlins struggling in Spring Training
The Miami Marlins had an interesting off-season and it's intriguing to speculate on how the bullpen situation will turn out. In the meantime, Spring Training is underway and three players are not doing particularly well. As we know Spring Training results are rarely indicative of how the season is going to go. That said, it can be telling and does indeed cost some players their jobs. Will any of these three players lose their jobs? Are these results still a concern? Let's start the list...
1. SP JESUS LUZARDO
Jesus Luzardo is struggling in Spring Training.
Jesus Luzardo is a very talented starting pitcher. He was a top prospect and until 2021 and his trade to the Miami Marlins. Luzardo debuted for Oakland in the 2019 season an delivered a 1.50 ERA/2.63 FIP with 12.0 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 6 games and 12.0 innings pitched as a reliever. He switched to starting in 2020, and delivered a 4.12 ERA/4.19 FIP with 9.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 12 games (9 starts) and 59.0 innings pitched. This was a disappointing follow-up, but the strikeouts and his top prospect pedigree were still there.
Jesus Luzardo split 2021 between Oakland and the Miami Marlins. He was dreadful that season, delivering a 6.87 ERA/6.09 FIP with 9.5 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 13 games (6 starts) and 38.0 innings pitched for Oakland, and then a 6.44 ERA/5.07 FIP with 9.1 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 12 games and 57.1 innings pitched with The Fish. It looked like another good trade for Oakland, considering Luzardo looked just about done that season. It was really that bad of a performance.
In 2022, Jesus Luzardo delivered a 3.32 ERA/3.12 FIP with 10.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 18 games and 100.1 innings pitched. This was an excellent performance and suddenly made him look like a legitimate ace. Going from a pitcher seemingly lucky to be in the Majors to a legitimate ace in just one season. The best part is that the advanced metrics back that up.
How is Luzardo doing so far? He currently has a 5.19 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 1.0 BB/9 in Spring Training's 3 games and 8.2 innings pitched. The ERA is bad, but the elite K/9 and BB/9 along with the small sample size mean that he's fine and the ERA is misleading.
NEXT: A major acquisition...
2. SP JOHNNY CUETO
Johnny Cueto is a new addition to the Miami Marlins.
Johnny Cueto was one of the major signings this off-season for the Miami Marlins. He had a pretty interesting career, with ups and downs throughout it. He's of course coming off of a strong year, but due to his age (37) there's a major question mark with whether or not he still has much gas left in the tank before his inevitable retirement.
Johnny Cueto debuted in 2008 with the Cincinnati Reds and delivered a 4.81 ERA/4.90 FIP with 8.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 31 games and 174.0 innings pitched. He followed that up in 2009 with a 4.41 ERA/4.69 FIP with 6.9 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 30 games and 171.1 innings pitched. He finally took a major step forward in 2010 with a 3.64 ERA/3.97 FIP with 6.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 31 games and 185.2 innings pitched.
In 2011, Cueto produced a 2.31 ERA/3.45 FIP with 6.0 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 24 games and 156.0 innings pitched. This was his breakout season as you can see. In 2012, he finished fourth in NL Cy Young award voting with a 2.78 ERA/3.27 FIP with 7.1 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 33 games and 217.0 innings pitched. In 2013, he produced a 2.82 ERA/3.81 FIP with 7.6 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 11 games and 60.2 innings pitched.
In 2014, Johnny Cueto delivered a 2.25 ERA/3.30 FIP with 8.9 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 34 games and 243.2 innings pitched. This led to a second place finish for him in NL Cy Young voting. Cueto split 2015 between Cincinnati and the Kansas City Royals (winning a World Series in the process). He delivered a 3.44 ERA/3.53 FIP with 7.5 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 32 games and 212.0 innings pitched.
Cueto signed with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent and pitched for them from 2016 to 2021 with solid results. He delivered a 3.81 ERA/3.93 FIP with 7.9 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 104 games and 614.0 innings pitched. In 2022 he pitched for the Chicago White Sox and delivered a 3.35 ERA/3.79 FIP with 5.8 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 25 games and 158.1 innings pitched. He spent a lot of time on the IL.
Johnny Cueto signed with the Miami Marlins as a free agents after the season and currently has a 27.00 ERA in 2 games and 3.2 innings pitched with 4.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. It's a very small sample size so I wouldn't be worried just yet.
NEXT: Another major signing...
3. 3B JEAN SEGURA
Jean Segura is the new Miami Marlins third baseman.
Jean Segura debuted in 2012 with the Los Angeles Angels but was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers that season. He batted .258/.315/.325 in 45 games and 151 AB that season. Segura's first full season with Milwaukee in 2013 and he batted .294/.329/.423 in 146 games and 588 AB. That was an impressive debut and he was worth 4.1 WAR.
He followed that up with a .246/.289/.326 batting line in 146 games and 513 AB in 2014. He wasn't much better in 2015, batting .257/.281/.336 in 142 games and 560 AB. Segura was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks after the season and had a break-out 2016 with them, batting .319/.368/.499 with 20 home runs and 64 RBI in 153 games and 637 AB.
Jean Segura was traded to the Seattle Mariners after the season, and batted .300/.349/.427 with 11 home runs and 45 RBI in 125 games and 524 AB in 2017. In 2018, he batted .304/.341/.415 with 10 home runs and 63 RBI in 144 games and 586 AB. After the season he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Segura had a solid career with Philly, batting .281/.337/.418 with 43 home runs and 176 RBI in 427 games and 1636 AB. He was worth 8.4 WAR during that time and 28.0 for his career.
The obvious problem in all of this is that Jean Segura has never been a third baseman before, which is the position that the Miami Marlins signed him to play. It's not unusual for a second baseman (his previous position) to switch over to third base, so I'm not particularly worried about how he's going to do in 2023 defensively. Even if he has issues now, I'm confident that he will eventually be able to figure it out. He's currently batting .214/.267/.286 with 0 home runs and 1 RBI in 6 games and 14 AB.
Jean Segura is struggling in Spring Training at the moment, but it's not unusual for players to struggle in Spring Training and have big seasons. Segura's track record and the small sample size make me feel less worried about his production during the season.
Next. The Miami Marlins bullpen looks intriguing. dark