Sunday, July 23, 2017

Shaved Fish


So to recap- the Washington Nationals, now with a better-stocked bullpen, are still really good. Despite other placings, it's not a great idea to get too invested in any of the other four teams. Thanks to injuries, inexperience, and...well, just plain ineptitude in the case of the Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins have fallen into the trap of having a really nice starting lineup and not having the greatest rotation. The injuries are hitting here, as well.

Edinson Volquez, Jeff Locke and Wei-Yin Chen are injured, Justin Nicolino's not playing like himself, and without Jose Fernandez, the Marlins rotation has no anchor, no leader, no consistency. It's become a free-for-all. Some people, like Jose Urena and Dan Straily, are doing pretty well, but the youth movement they tried to align last year with Fernandez at the helm is falling apart, and Tom Koehler and Adam Conley are really disappointing people. Even AJ Ramos, the closer, is suffering a bit.

The Marlins' lineup is still great- JT Realmuto, Justin Bour and Marcell Ozuna are building the strong core that they were going for a few years ago when they all came up. Giancarlo Stanton's having a well-deserved comeback season. Christian Yelich and Dee Gordon are doing fairly well. There are some holes in the lineup, and the lack of roster depth is juuuust beginning to get to them.

This is a heavily flawed team, but it's one I secretly want to succeed.

Coming Tomorrow: A DH for a last-place team.

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