Miami Marlins cobble together starters for playoff run

Who will step up for the Marlins?

Miami Marlins v Washington Nationals
Miami Marlins v Washington Nationals | Mitchell Layton/GettyImages

The Miami Marlins did multiple things well at the trade deadline but they greatly neglected the pitching woes.  They could have thought they were prepared to compete and had people returning from the injured list but the fan base felt differently.  Kim Ng failed again when the padres put several players on waivers and they didn’t claim a single one, as Neil wrote, and it is really haunting them now.  

The most recent news of Sandy Alcantara’s trip to the IL with a UCL sprain just adds insult to injury, yes pun intended.  The Marlins have inserted Johnny Cueto into the starting role along with bullpen games, which has left gaping holes in their playoff push.  The fish has six different pitchers last night in their Braves game with Cueto starting off but only lasting four innings.

The bullpen will be exhausted at the end of the season there is no doubt and the results so far with bullpen games in August have not been good.  The Marlins have one today, as Bryan Hoeing gets the nod to start, followed by whomever they need to jump in to the game, likely based on the score.  

Strangely the Marlins started JT Chargois against the Brewers this week in a bullpen game that saw four pitchers enter for the fish.  The strange part was that Eddy Cabrera took over in the second inning and went 4.2 innings.  He should have just started the game in my opinion and he should be plugged in to fill the starter void.  

The bright spots this year continue to shine with Braxton Garrett showing his long range viability as a starter for the Marlins.  Eury Perez shows his stuff is still electric although he needs to be more efficient in the future with his pitch count getting very high in the 4th inning.  Will the makeshift pitching staff put the fish in a position to make the playoffs, time will tell.

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