Florida Marlins:

Young pitching making batters look like fish out of water

The Florida Marlins have been in existence since 1993 and in those ten seasons they’ve already won more championships than anyone not named the New York Yankees. In 1997, their fifth season in the league, the team won its first World Series defeating the Cleveland Indians in seven games. During the off-season the team had a fire sale, and traded away or didn’t resign a majority of their core players because they didn’t turn a profit on their way to a World Series. In 2003, the Marlins made it into the postseason as a wild card team and defeated the San Francisco Giants in four games. In the NLCS they faced the Chicago Cubs and lost three of four games. They then took three straight from Cubs on the way to their second World Series. In the Series they faced the Yankees. In what looked to be déjà vu from the NLCS, the Marlins lost two of the first three games, but much like the series before the Marlins grinded out three straight wins capped off by a 5-hit shutout by pitcher Josh Beckett in hallowed Yankee Stadium.

The Marlins looked to keep the payroll low and talent high this season as they had it last year. They moved veterans Derek Lee and Juan Encarnacion. Lee went to the Cubs for first baseman Hee Seop Choi and Encarnacion to the Dodgers for a player to be named later. The fish also went out and got troubled closer Armando Benitez and let go of Ugueth Urbina.

The Marlins are definitely an “old school” team. They concentrate on getting guys on base, stealing bases and grinding games out with timely hitting, not home runs. They have arguably the best 1-2-3 combination in the league with center fielder Juan Pierre, second baseman Luis Castillo, and right fielder Miguel Cabrera. Pierre, thought by many to be the best lead-off man in the majors, and Castillo get on base at a very high rate and can both steal a base at will. Cabrera is the prototypical number three hitter, he can hit for average and power and he can also steal a base when called upon. Behind Cabrera are all star third baseman Mike Lowell, left fielder Jeff Conine, Choi, catcher Ramon Castro and Alex Gonzalez.

As good and young as their bats are, their pitching is just as good and just as young. The starters consist of Josh Beckett, Brad Penny, Dontrelle Willis, Carl Pavano and are awaiting A.J. Burnett’s return from Tommy John surgery. In the pen, Benitez is closing down the ninth, and has Matt Perisho and Nate Bump setting up for him. There is no question that the pitching staff has a huge part in keeping the team successful.
The Marlins have called Pro Player Stadium their home since they broke into the majors in 1993. In 1999, renovations had to be made to keep the stadium up to par with MLB regulations which included retractable seating on the north side of the stadium and new baseball dugouts.

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