The Keys Behind Miami's Successful Start To The Season
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The 2023 MLB season is only a couple weeks from the All-Star break, which is seen as the halfway mark of the regular season and the Miami Marlins have a record of 43-34 and sit three games ahead of the Brewers and Phillies for the final wild card spot. The Marlins have been one of the biggest surprises in the league this season as this is a franchise that is looking to clinch only their second playoff berth since they won the World Series back in 2003.
Their other playoff berth was not even in a full season as they made the expanded playoffs in 2020 when the season was only 60 games long and they went on to beat the Cubs in the first round before losing to the Braves in the NLDS. In the present day, this franchise seems to be trending upwards and with so many solid, young players with years of team control, the Marlins might become a new NL East contender for the foreseeable future.
With all of Miami’s success this season, you would think that the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, Sandy Alcantara would be dealing again this season. However that has not been the case as Alcantara has an ERA above five and he has posted a 2-6 record so far. It has been the supporting cast that has stepped up this year in the Miami rotation with young lefty starters Jesus Luzardo and Braxton Garrett putting up solid campaigns but the real star of the rotation lately has been Eury Perez.
Perez was a top prospect coming into the year and he was called up to the Marlins in May. The 20-year-old took off from the start as he has a 4-1 record through eight career starts with a 1.54 ERA over 41.0 innings. The Marlins also have a couple other young pitchers that have potential to be a big part of the rotation in the coming years with Edward Cabrera, who has shown flashes of brilliance but is still inconsistent, and Sixto Sanchez, who debuted in 2020 but has been plagued by injuries in the past couple of seasons.
This year’s Marlins have also gotten help from their lineup, headlined by Jorge Soler and Luis Arraez. Soler is fourth in the majors in home runs with 21 while Arraez is on a historic tear, hitting over .400 as he is trying to become the first hitter since Ted Williams in 1941 to hit over .400 over an entire season. Arraez was acquired by the Marlins this past offseason for starter Pablo Lopez and two other players.
A couple other hitters to highlight are Jesus Sanchez and Bryan De La Cruz, who both have an OPS+ over the league average of 100. The Marlins rank eighth in the MLB in team batting average with an average of .260 and it can get even better if All-Star Jazz Chisholm can get hot after he returns from injury.
This MLB season is far from over and a lot can change between now and early October but no matter what the end result is for this team, Miami’s future is looking brighter than it has been in quite a while.
