|
A year ago, the Marlins were in a similar position the Mets were in. A young team looking for a turnaround, with a lot of young pitching pushing their way onto the roster, and a high-profile young star pitcher working his way back from Tommy John surgery, but the offense behind the pitching, with one homegrown star hoping support could arrive on his watch.
Not a lot worked out. José Fernandez was handled gently, returned on July 2, and showed fine form the rest of the way 6-1, 2.92, but by then it was almost too late to matter. (None of his 11 starts even came against the Mets.) Giancarlo Stanton homered off Dillon Gee early in the season to become the Marlins all-time leading home run hitter, and then went on a first half tear, slugging a Bondsian .606, but injured his hamate bone mid-season, and a recovery expected to last a month or so ended up topping his season off.
These two indisputable stars filed pretty much not-quite one complete year between them, and little else went right, apart from the surprising breakout season of Dee Gordon, who on-based at .359, stole 58 bases, and landed 16th in MVP voting. If you wonder if that season is repeatable, you might take heart in observing that .333 of that .359 was batting average.
Still, they finished strong and ended up a distant third, and then proceeded to have one of the quietest off seasons in baseball, counting on development and healing to change their fates. Apart from hiring a new skipper (Don Mattingly who thinks working for Jeffrey Loria is still better than Steinbrenner, but worse than working for Monty Burns), their main offseason aquiree was a five-year deal for Wei-Yin Chen (opt-out after two). The lineup that finished next-to-last in the league in scoring is back in its entirety, with the main addition being nu batting instructor Bobby Bonds.
Are you retired big leaguer with unambiguous Hall of Fame numbers but a PED-tainted track record in need of big league redemption? Well, Don Mattingly has a job for you.
Let's take a look at that lineup.
Catcher
Returning at catcher is J.T. Realmuto, who hits like a catcher. Modest average, low walks, puncher's power. Did OK last year and projects to fall back a little this year. He's a 1.5-win player.
First Base
Justin Bour came out of nowhere at 27 to hit 23 home runs. In a cavernous ballpark, too. I say he's a mistake hitter that the league will adjust to.
Second Base
Gordon is a good, sharp player who will hurt you, but no way is he last year's version over the long haul. For one, he's one of those guys who looks good on defense but isn't supported by he defensive metrics. For two, a lot of his value is tied up in that batting average, and it's not very reflective of his track record. That said, he's started off red hot this year, with eight hits in his first 19 at-bats.
Third Base
Multi-positional professional hitter Martín Prado returns. His modest power has to be park adjusted, but he's still about a 100 OPS+ hitter now, despite a hot start. He's 32 and the only player over 28 in this lineup.
Shortstop
Adeiny Hecheverria is a fine defender who will hit a mostly empty .280-.285. He'll give you three wins, but 2.5 will be with the glove. He'd probably win a gold glove or two if he wasn't in the same league as Andrelton Simmons. He's probably a better hitter than Simmons, though, if only just. Needs to cut his strikeouts.
Laffield
Christian Yellich is a solid leftielder with good average and low power. (This is something of a theme here.) He was a tick down from 2014, so he might have a bounce back year in him. Only 24, and a good bet to improve.
Sinnerfield
Marcel Ozuna probably got called up before his time. He clubbed the snot out of the ball in the low minors, but mostly skipped the upper minors, and has been adjusting for his first few years. Still young and hungry, but maybe hurt by being thrown in the deep end too soon. Is a cousin of former big leaguer Pablo Ozuna.
Raffield
Giancarlo Stanton is a big tough handsome badass, who has come back from several injuries that would have destroyed a lesser animal, and is still as dangerous a power hitter as you'll see whenever he's able to step into the box.
That's what you've got. You see a lineup balanced top to bottom, but not balanced at a very high level. It's Stanton and a bunch of guys who may get hot here or there, but are a pretty good bet to be average over the long haul. But they are young, which makes a breakout here or there still possible. And a quick disposal easy enough. That's a versatile situation, but they need a breakout, and one or two injuries could really hurt.
Bench
HOLY SHIT THEY STILL HAVE ICHIRO. He's now 94 years old, in great shape, 65 hits short of 3,000, and hit his lone home run last year off of the Mets' Álex Torres.
Pitching
Jarred Cosart goes in game one against Steven Matz. He's a low-strikeout/high walk pitcher who keeps it in the park, but otherwise does little more than hold down a rotation spot until somebody better comes along. He's the type of nibbling pitcher a team like the Mets likes, to be frank.
José Fernandez gets the marquee matchup against Noah Syndergaard in game two. The Mets caught him in his first start back in 2013 and twice more in June of that year, but amazingly, haven't faced him since. While he gave up but two runs in 18 innings over those three starts, it's been a long time. José gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings to the Tigers on opening day, but he also struck out 13 so he's still not the guy anybody wants to catch.
WtF is Adam Conley? Aside from begin a damn fine insurance salesman, Adam Conley is your game three starter, who pitched some decent ball down the stretch for the Marlins last year. He went one inning in his first start and was pulled after a rain delay. He gives up a lot o' walks and is in the rotation while Wei-Yin Chen's elbow is balky. He's the lone lefty in the lineup, so look for starts from the likes of Laggy and Florrie, if not Campy.
AJ Ramos established himself as closer last year, and he gets his share of punch outs and stuff. Doesn't expect to get a lot of dazzling support from iffy vets like David Phelps and Edwin Jackson and Dustin McGowan. Get into the bullpen early and then break out your hitting sticks, Mets.
The Marlins are 1-4. I'm not calling for a sweep, because that's a lot to ask of any team facing a stopper like José Fernandez in game two. I'm just saying that a sweep would knock this young team down for a month at least, and the Mets can start going about the business of positioning themselves ahead of everybody else.
Marlins Who Were Mets
Turn-of-the-century Mets' pinch-hitting specialist Lenny Harris coaches third for the Marlins. (It's historically something of a bugbear among some African-American coaches that they get offered the first-base coaching gig a lot more than the third-base box, so bully to Lenny.) 1995 Met rotation filler Reid Cornelius coaches the relievers. While out in the bullpen, he may occasionally cross paths with Marlins catching instructor Brian Schneider, sometimes starting catcher of the Jerry Manuel-era Mets. Failed Mets deadline pickup and Marlins fixture Jeff Conine joins former Met debutante Preston Wilson with the pre- and post-game analysis. The Barbarian also holds the coveted "Special Assistant to the President" title.
Marlins Who Compromise Seawolf's Rooting Interests
Tom Koehler remains in the service of the South Floridians, but isn't scheduled to go this series.
Mets Who Were Marlins
Bullpen coach Ricky Bones served up some meat as a 2000-2001 Marlin.
Mets Who Sound Like They Were Marlins
Asdrubal Cabrera. Come on. That guy sounds like he spent a purgatorial four-five years down in South Florida. Terry Collins, too, to be honest.
|
