The DFA of Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Last year the Marlins gave Jarrod Saltalammachia, an OK catcher coming off a good season and world series championship, a 3 year 21 million dollar contract to sign on with the fish. He was meant to fill in the gap until JT Realmuto was ready to sign on. Of course he went off and performed at a .220 BA, 320 OBP and the disturbing number of 143 K, or better said, a strikeout in 33 percent of his at bats! Those that do not know enough about baseball need to know that a K is the best case scenario for a defense as nothing positive can happen for the offense thanks a strikeout. Of course Salty was striking out 1 in every 3 at bats!!

Not good Salty...

The Marlins really do have bad luck in signing catchers... Remember how Jeffrey Loria was extremely excited about signing another catcher in 2011 coming off a career year with Toronto? He was more known for his cool masks then his hitting here. Mr John Buck who hit a whopping .192 was that big signee and that big bust, but his catcher helmets are cool!

Bring us back to 2015, and the start of this still very early season. You may recall game number one and Jarrod's bases loaded opportunity with zero outs and his chance to shine.... 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2015_04_06_atlmlb_miamlb_1&mode=video RUH ROH 

and it really only trended downwards from there. His hitting clip kept going down until the Marlins quickly gave up on him and brought in JT Realmuto quickly into the starting role. The stunning part was that Salty quickly became benched in favor of Realmuto who is a better defender than Salty as evidence by this play on Monday night.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2015_04_27_nynmlb_miamlb_1&mode=video&content_id=91471483&tcid=vpp_copy_91471483

Catchers do not make that play... so that already is a plus. Also it helps when the catcher or well the position player you have hits better than .069!! So after a small sample size of 33 at bats which in reality is too small to judge in baseball the Marlins decided that after he returned from paternity leave (Nice touch) to designate him for assignment (DFA) That is the fancy way of saying GET OUT! 

One issue here, the Marlins still owe him what is left of this year and next year and even though we talk bad about him, Salty is still a better back up than Jeff Mathis. So why let 14 million just go away and be given the Dan Uggla treatment? There must be something deeper, there must be a reason to not have him around. Was he a clubhouse cancer? Was he really that bad to have around? Who knows, but he is gone now and apparently some American League team will take him and use him as a DH/C. Good luck to you Salty and hopefully the wind generated by your strikeouts can provide some good energy in another stadium. 

On the positive note! A good win and recovery by Steve Cishek to take game two against the Metropolitans. Rubber match against Old man Colon today. Lets keep the winning rolling! 

The Wonderment of Dee Gordon....

So this young man from the Los Angeles Dodgers was traded to Miami in what some would say was a one sided deal... We lost one of our best pitching prospects in Andrew Heaney but also got Dan Haren for a grand total of zero.zero dollars. (He hasn't been too bad either). All we knew about him was that he was fast and he doesn't walk. Well that and that he loves to be caressed by Rod Barajas.

I'm sure he misses his old teammate.

Now he is in Miami and still does not walk but amazingly he has 34 hits in 20 baseball games and is hitting an astonishing .395! Even more astounding is his caught stealing number as he has been thrown out 6 times on the bases already! Even Dee is surprising himself. 

 Now I don't get into those advance BABIP stats which say he is getting lucky and stuff because that just puts a damper even though I am a statistics teacher. Can we just say that he is a quality slap hitter and worth the investment we put on him?

All I know is he has got hops and can easily dunk over Christian Yelich

Take that Christian!!!

So far its been positive having Mr. Dee Gordon around.... now if only he can close games and not let that Shrek guy blow another one... Shades of Heath Bell... 

(That was a scary time period)

Return for the 2015 season

I am back... it has been a hiatus...it has been depressing. Justin Ruggiano is long gone from the roster but it is time to get excited for the 2015 season! We are playing Grapefruit League games and Stanton wants you to see his new face!

What a G

Get ready for a month of names like Ryan Chaffee and Vin Mazzero! Who wants to analyze the most unlikely people to make the Marlins roster.... (Can we fast forward to Opening Day...?)

Why don't they always play like this?

So tell me why for a second, do the Marlins not play like they did this weekend all year. They fell a few feet short (or to the right) of sweeping a team that is 11 games ahead in the standings in the NL Central in the Cincinnati Reds. It took that...

to secure the win today and for them to salvage a game in this 3 game set.

But more importantly, where were you when the 500,000th error in MLB History was made and not much later the 500,001th. I couldn't believe that there have only been 500,000 errors in the 120 years of Major League Baseball and of course it had to be a Miami Marlin in this debacle of a season that committed the error. Here it is.

Of course he didn't know that this was happening at the time as 499,999 happened literally seconds before but its simply ironic. Either way its a fun piece of MLB trivia, just like the first team to lose 10000 games! Anyone? Yes that is the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ok as a fan with 2.5 weeks left of season what can I look forward to now? Besides the immense amount of pitching changes and hearing that we have a limited bench even though our rosters can expand to 40? Well I do like Wednesday coming up for two reasons, one would be the commemoration of the 500,000th error Jose Reyes bobble head day. Nothing is cooler than making your own bobble head museum at home right? At least that will get me all three for this year. 

Also on Wednesday though comes the end of an era, the end of Larry Chipper Jones abusing us in our backyard. 

As you know he is retiring after this year and has always been a career .300+ hitter against the Marlins organization and finally finally!! he will stop torturing us. He has honestly been a man that has tortured us for years and I hate him for that but man do I respect him. He has actually stayed on the same team for years and played the game right. I will absolutely applaud him and give him a standing ovation Wednesday night and hope and expect the rest of my Marlins brethren to do the same for this great player.

So that's the big event to look forward to this week. I'm sure the players are almost dying to get to October 3rd and this fan is partially there but trust me I will still miss it. At least we have a chance of getting a better record than last year!!

-Big note from Saturday night's game, Mark Buehrle went to 188.1 IP on his season total which puts him 11.2 innings away from another 200 inning season with 2 starts left to go. Talk about durability, this would be his 12th season of pitching 200+ innings which seems doable at this point. One of the big reasons why the Marlins signed him this year.

The Underlying issue for the Marlins...

I think its now very obvious and apparent what the big issue is for the Marlins are going into the 2013 season since 2012 is for fun now. Its an offensive consistency issue. This team can score runs on any given day, even with guys batting under .200 in the lineup. Just look at the 13 run outburst in NY and 12 run outburst in Arizona. The consistency was none more evident yesterday. After going two games with 18 runs on 35 hits, they combine in a doubleheader to score 2 runs on 11 hits and all of a sudden they have gone 15 innings without scoring. Halfway to that dreaded 30 number! Ozzie will not be happy then.

The pitching on the other hand has been great. What more could this team ask for yesterday then not one but TWO quality starts from their pitchers. Jacob Turner went a nice 6 innings, 3 runs allowed in his longest (and best) start ever in the big leagues. Wade LeBlanc did one better by going 7 innings and only allowing three runs and most of the hits allowed were jam shots...

 

 

Also important to note that the Marlins now have 7 starters on their roster who all seem prime to take one of the 5 available spots on next years roster. Each pitcher has done well in their own right even with Jacob Turner's one start, it's evident he is ready for the show.

 

-Josh Johnson: the stud of the rotation should be the ace.

-Mark Buerhle: the innings eater that consistenty keeps you in the game.

-Wade LeBlanc: he has shown all year that he can throw and throw well since spring training and should of made the roster then. He has earned a 2013 job

-Carlos Zambrano: he is a free agent and will most likely walk unless he takes a huge paycut, and he may want to play with Ozzie some more being that Ozzie was the one who gave him the shot.

-Ricky Nolasco: He is owed one more year and has been the most inconsistent of the bunch who seems to regress year by year with reduced strikeouts. He may be sent to the bullpen now but he will most likely start next year instead of being an expensive reliever. Look for a trade here to upgrade the offense.

-Nathan Eovaldi: He has done great here for a youngster and it will be hard to send him down.

-Jacob Turner: He is also the future and will have this time to prove to all he is the real deal.

 

Prediction: It seems that right now Turner will take Nolasco's spot in the rotation especially after he gave up 5 early on Tuesday, but coming into next year I believe either Turner or Eovaldi will start the year in the minors to make space for a rotation of JJ, Buerhle, LeBlanc, Nolasco, and Eovaldi/Turner. Zambrano will walk as someone will give him a nice contract. The only possible change would be if the Marlins can complete a trade sending Nolasco away for a bat.

 

So the good news is the Marlins have a plethora of pitching for 2013, but the big issue is what we started with, scoring runs on a consistent basis. We know Stanton and Reyes will do it, but who else. Thats where winter 2013 becomes intensely interesting for the Marlins who believe they are close if they can score more runs.

 

-The Marlins are off to Hanleywood Los Angeles for 3 games. Nathan Eovaldi gets to face his former team Friday night at 10:10 ET as the Marlins try to drop LA more behind in the NL West.

Anatomy of a 9 run inning.

Its not every day we see 9 runs on ten hits... First of all, 9 runs is a season record 1 short of the franchise record. 10 hits in an inning ties a franchise record. In total they ended up with 12 runs on 20 hits and this lead to big games including Jose Reyes with a 4-5 including 3 doubles and John Buck, yes the one and only John Buck went 4 for 5 which prompted this great tweet by @fishatbat

Oh yeah and I think Stanton homered? But I'll get to that.

Joe Saunders was rolling into the fourth when Solano starts the inning with a nice bloop hit. Jose Reyes outdid his blooper with another blooper and they were in business. Runners on the corners no out. On a hit and run, Carlos Lee hits a routine ground ball to the spot the 2B would of been to score the run and tie the game. The Marlins are nickel and diming Joe Saunders to death. Then of course Stanton comes up and goes YARD...again. 442 feet as shown on hittrackeronline.com (great resource for your home run disntance needs)

Ruggiano says hey Stanton anything you can do I can do better and hits one exactly 442 feet as well. Ahhh there is nothing like a healthy Justin Ruggiano! 5-1 Fish. (The home runs of Ruggiano and Stanton were actually the two longest home runs of the day)

The inning could of ended there but no John Buck singles, Murphy and Buehrle are out and back to the top of the lineup. Bonifacio picks a great time for an infield single. Solano decides to frustrate Saunders with ANOTHER bloop hit to score Buck. Finally, Reyes puts the nail in Saunders night with a bases clearing double to make it 8-1.... Oh we aren't done! Carlos Lee greets the new pitcher with a single and RBI and we end with a 9-1 game. This is how it looks.

Miami - Top of 4th	SCORE
Joe Saunders pitching for Arizona	MIA	ARI
D Solano singled to center.	0	1
J Reyes singled to shallow right, D Solano to third.	0	1
C Lee reached on infield single to second, D Solano scored, J Reyes to second.	1	1
G Stanton homered to left (442 feet), J Reyes and C Lee scored.	4	1
J Ruggiano homered to center (442 feet).	5	1
J Buck singled to left center.	5	1
D Murphy flied out to center.	5	1
M Buehrle bunt popped out to pitcher.	5	1
E Bonifacio reached on infield single to third, J Buck to second.	5	1
D Solano singled to right, J Buck scored, E Bonifacio to third.	6	1
J Reyes doubled to deep left, E Bonifacio and D Solano scored.	8	1
B Bergesen relieved J Saunders.	8	1
C Lee singled to center, J Reyes scored, C Lee thrown out at second attempting to advance on play.	9	1
9 Runs, 10 Hits, 0 Errors

Or for you visual learners! http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24077753&c_id=mia

It is always fun to see innings when a team is just going off like the Marlins did. 

-Giancarlo Stanton homered completing the game with his 26th homer later on in the game bringing about this ridiculous stat. In 11 games in a NL west city (SF, SD, Col, Az), he has homered 9 times. 35 percent of his home runs are in the NL West cities and he still has 6 more games out there. WOW. Marlins are also 9-2 in those 11 games. Coincidence? The best part of his home runs are the reactions of the Dback players. 

They are pretty much in shock and awe of Mr. Giancarlo Stanton. Awesome reactions, but at this point I think that's the reaction everyone around the league has every time Mr. Stanton sends one deep.

What did Stanton really just do in Coors Field?

That says it all. Giancarlo owns Coors Field and Rockies pitchers. He hit 6 home runs over 6 consecutive games over two season at Coors Field. He is setting records not only at Coors Field but in baseball for home runs in one park and its not even his own park!! Most of those numbers were set by people at their home stadium where they had a larger sample size to do it. Stanton did it in 6 games. Seriously imagine if Stanton played at Coors Field 81 times a year or in the NL west were they have 9 games a year at Colorado. Wow the damage that would be done. Also these aren't little altitude cheap ones. Lets look at this chart posted before Saturday's home run. 

Those balls are clearing the fence and more. These balls are going over 450 feet and Friday's went 494 ft. Enough to make the Colorado Rockies announcer say that the ball went "stupid" far. So where did Saturday's ball go?

That's right, top of the concourse and OUT of Coors Field. Giancarlo is simply "stupid" strong. "Only" 465 feet. On Sunday he didn't get much to hit, because Jim Tracy was fed up with seeing these bombs go out and he had his home crowd booing each intentional walk. Even their crowd wants to see "Monster shots"

Giancarlo is special and now the Marlins organization really needs to go out and give him that extension he deserves. If you noticed Reyes and Stanton together could carry a team to wins as you saw Friday and Saturday and quite frankly saw in the Marlins 21-8 month of May. A hot Stanton means a lot of Marlins wins. So, Marlins organization, the first thing you must do this summer is not go out and find a free agent, its give Stanton that extension and create from there because I want to see this for many many more years to come. 

and keep saying "No freaking way" when the ball goes off Stanton's bat.

- The Marlins ended up splitting with Colorado and head to Arizona (another hitter's park) for 4 games in 3 days... Weird huh? Thanks collective bargaining agreement. I think players would rather play one game a day then doubleheaders and the off day.

-Isn't it crazy that Coors Field, is the third oldest stadium in the NL and the oldest of the new ballparks? The Marlins are also visiting the 5th oldest and 2nd oldest stadiums in the NL. Crazy how everyone except the Dodgers and Cubs in the NL has joined in on the new stadium binge. 

-The lineup saw the return of Bonifacio, Ruggiano, and Donnie Murphy. Murphy hitting behind Stanton as "protection" is questionable at best. Solano or Dobbs is obviously a better choice depending on the starter. Ozzie hopefully fixes that tomorrow.