2011 MLB season in review: Florida Marlins
We move our season in reviews to the National League East. There the Florida Marlins are perennial basement dwellers. They might also be the cheapest team in all of baseball. The good news here is a new stadium is set to open in April, and the word is this team is actually going to spend some money and try to fill the seats. Let us not forget this is a team that was nearly sued by the Player's union for its unwillingness to spend a little cash. Jeff Loria is the owner, and let us just say he is not a very popular guy.
The 2011 Marlins went 72-90 and finish in last place in their division. Their record against the four divisional opponents was 32-40. This team was also 8-10 in inter-league play. They won just two of the six games played against their in state rivals the Tampa Bay Rays. While they were ok against he bad teams, they went just 12-24 against the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.
The Marlins scored 625 runs on 1,358 hits. Both of those totals are in the lower third of the 16 NL teams. It is hard to believe that 625 run total was just fifth worst in the senior league. Being form an American League town I would freak out if my team was only able to score 625 runs, but that is the difference in the NL style that makes baseball a great sport. The Marlins also finished in the bottom third of all the extra base hit categories but did hit 149 home runs. The team did hit .248 and that was in the upper half of their league.
The pitching staff gave up 702 runs, on 1,403 hits. The staff ERA was 3.95 and that ranked them 10th in staff ERA for their league. Two of their starting five pitchers did register double digit wins, but also had double digit losses. They did strike out 1,218 hits and issued 500 walks. The walks total was sixth best in the NL. That seems to indicate that this staff challenges hitters.
It is hard to get a clear picture of this team, as they will have a new ballpark and a new manager. They claim they will spend some money and they should spend it on pitching as theirs is not quite up to standard. The bad news is here is nine of their pitchers were drafted by this team. If they are not cutting the mustard the team really only has itself to blame. The baseball folks for the Marlins are actually pretty astute, and they will need to keep on making better decisions.
Related Links:
