How Concerned Should the Marlins’ Be About Playoff Hopes?
The Marlins’ struggles continued on Friday against the Yankees, as Jesús Luzardo struggled in a 9-4 loss (Photo by Sam Navarro, USA Today)
After surprising the baseball world in the first half of their season, the Miami Marlins have hit a snag. Since a 19-8 June, they’ve gone 13-21 since and have seen their playoff spot fall in jeopardy. They made a step in the right direction on Saturday, topping the Yankees 3-1, but it came after a 9-4 loss the night before. With the Marlins in the middle of a rough stretch, the issues are easy to identify.
One of the main issues for the Marlins have been in the pitching. Their series against the Reds was a step in the right direction, but there have been red flags. The team relinquished six runs in all three games against the Texas Rangers and let up eight runs in a 9-8 victory over the Phillies last Wednesday.
After winning the National League’s Cy Young Award last season, Sandy Alcantara has regressed considerably in 2023, despite flashes of that past form (Photo by Daniel Valera, Miami Herald)
Looking at individual pitchers, Sandy Alcantara hasn’t been anywhere close to his Cy Young form, even if what he did last year was hard to replicate. Alcantara took a big step in the right direction against the Yankees in a complete game, but his ERA still sits a 4.09. Johnny Cueto has also not been effective, and the likes of Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett each have ERA’s over four in their past seven starts. While rookie Eury Perez has been a bright spot in that rotation, you can’t put that much stock in him being the bedrock of your starting rotation, and the Marlins’ more experienced starters have to pick up their end of the load.
It also doesn’t help that the bats haven’t been able to mask the struggles of the pitching. Although Luis Arraez wasn’t expected to keep up his chase for a .400 average, that decline has begun on his end. Bryan De La Cruz’ numbers have also started to dip, as he’s hitting .207 with four homers in his past 15 games. Jazz Chisholm has been hitting very well since coming back from an injury, and Deadline adds Josh Bell and Jake Burger have contributed to varying degrees since arriving in Miami, but their top guys need to step up if they want to make a run at the playoffs.
With the Marlins’ struggling, it’s worth emphasizing they’re still within striking distance of the postseason. They only sit half-a-game out of the final spot, but competition is immense. Two NL Central foes in Chicago and Cincinnati are separated by half-a-game for the final berth, with Philadelphia and San Francisco having cushion at the one and two seeds, respectively. It’s also worth noting that Arizona and San Diego are also hanging around despite their struggles, sitting three and four games out of that spot, respectively.
While the Marlins are in one of the better positions of the teams in the hunt, they will have to regroup quickly. If the tailspin continues, one of the trailing teams can easily catch up and the Marlins could fall further out of the race in the process. While concern is valid, it is fair to give the roster that got them this far some time, as Skip Schumaker’s team has surprised the MLB and looks to continue to do so in the playoff push.
