Soler Power

 

The best way I can describe the Miami Marlins this year, as well as most years, is 'inessential'. You can't say that about the Dolphins, they're competitive every other year. You certainly can't say that about the Heat, they nearly made it all the way this year after slaying my Sixers. The Marlins have great players, great performances, and some big-game moments, but not enough to make a season great. They came very close to getting somewhere in 2020, but it wasn't a mentality that held.

Not that this is a bad team this year. You could be doing a lot worse than having Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez kicking ass at the same time. The Reds wish they had something like that. The Pirates are in third and THEY wish they had something like that. But the Marlins are down in fourth, behind the Phillies, who are hot this month, the Braves, who are REALLY hot this month, and the Mets, who, while not hot this month, seem to be hot in all the other ones. Fifth belongs to the Nats, so the Fish can just sit pretty in fourth and not overexert themselves. 

One thing I will say about this Marlins team is that they have carried on 2021's tradition of dumb power hitting even without Adam Duvall, with Jorge Soler, Jesus Sanchez and Jesus Aguilar all delivering some one-dimensional power numbers. Jazz Chisholm is also a decent power hitter, but he can at least back that up with contact and defense. Jorge Soler isn't exactly hitting for average, he's not exactly known for his defense, and he leads the team in strikeouts with 66. But...yeah, he can still hit home runs, which definitely helps. By contrast, there are at least a few decent contact hitters, like Jon Berti, Garrett Cooper and Miguel Rojas, still roaming this team, but it's not the kind of team that's all on the same page with itself.

Meanwhile, Sandy Alcantara might win a Cy Young this year. Just...the way he's pitched so far, with a 1.68 ERA, 82 Ks and a 6-2 record, he's pitching as if every strong, consistent season has led to this one. For a while Pablo Lopez was having the showier performance, but now Alcantara's getting all the eyeballs on him, and on the first year of a new contract, no less. Any worry of Alcantara flying the coop at the deadline has subsided, and he can focus on just continuing to dominate. There's not a ton to this rotation behind them, though Edward Cabrera seems to be affirming the prospectors' takes and Braxton Garrett seeks to finally get some playing time after all those rookie cards last year. They're not exactly waiting around for Sixto Sanchez to get back, which helps.

I think expectations are low enough that the Marlins can be proud of what they do this year, even if it isn't much. Heck, they stand a chance against my Phillies this week, which is something. Maybe they've got a few more firecrackers planned for the season.

Coming Tonight: A closer trying to find some silver linings in Detroit.