Marlins Are Somehow Bad at Everything Besides Starting Pitching
By Seth Carlson
There's not much to love about the 20-36 Miami Marlins. In year two of the Jeter rebuild, they've struggled to put anything remotely close to a major league product out on the field.
However, one facet of the team has been surprisingly good this season: starting pitching.
#Marlins are only #MLB that's used only 5 starting pitchers so far this season. Per @EliasSports it's deepest into a season using the 5 they opened the season with since 2012. Team has used 12-13 starters each yr. since. Miami's starters' ERA is 4.01, ranks 6th in NL, 10th in MLB
— Andre Fernandez (@FernandezAndreC) June 2, 2019
It's pretty impressive to see that the Marlins' collective starter group of Caleb Smith, Sandy Alcántara, Pablo López, Jose Ureña and Trevor Richards are throwing quality innings and giving the Marlins consistency where they otherwise struggle to find it.
Caleb Smith in particular looks to be truly breaking out. The 27-year-old has logged a 3-3 record across 11 starts, throwing 61 innings and recording 80 strikeouts. He has a 3.10 ERA to go with an impeccable 0.97 WHIP, having only walked 18 batters.
The group is young and largely inexperienced, with Smith and Ureña the veterans of the group despite being just 27. Based off these pitchers' early season performances, it looks as if Jeter has a pitching staff from which to launch the rest of his rebuild from.
Don Mattingly talks about the starting rotation's success during the @Marlins' win streak!#JuntosMiami #MLB pic.twitter.com/joNsXmJA2a
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) May 24, 2019
To put the rotation's performance in perspective, 20 major league teams have a worse rotation ERA than the Marlin, quite stunning. Now, all Miami needs is an MLB-caliber offense and bullpen.