What the Miami Marlins need to win in September

August has been a brutal month for the Miami Marlins and the fan base as they have posted an abysmal 9 and 16 record with only 2 games remaining. The truth of the matter is if the Marlins are going to make the playoffs, they can't have another month like this one. The brutal schedule has also seemed to mess up the teams positive chemistry so far and they need to get past this funk and back to their winning ways of the spring.

There have been a few big factors that have caused the Marlins downfall this month, and certainly the quality of teams they have played is partly to blame. The slate of playoff teams they have faced was a fierce schedule and it really challenged the Marlins and their trade deadline quality. The Marlins have struggled against the opposing pitchers of the top teams and a good portion of the Marlins hitters have not been up to the challenge.

The biggest issue the Marlins have had is their consistency with regards to scoring runs. The Marlins have struggled to get on top of teams and their run production has petered off in the second half of the month especially. Several Marlins hitters have been in a slump this month, and key players at that. Bryan De La Cruz, Jazz Chisholm, and anyone else in the outfield have struggled, and Joey Wendle has returned to his early season form. Two of those hitters need to step it up in September for the Marlins to make a run and Chisholm should really be one of them. De La Cruz has hit .213 for the month with only 2 home runs and 6 RBI, nothing to write home about.

The final issue that has plagued the Marlins winning was has been their bullpen. The Marlins have changed their closer as their deadline acquired closer hasn't panned out as Neil wrote earlier this week. The other two pitchers acquired by the Marlins have had little to no real positive impact. If the Marlins pen can't handle two to three clean innings a night consistently they will not make it to the October Wild Card games.