Miami is more than happy to leave a disappointing 2022 behind.
After an extended lockout, the Marlins arrived at Spring Training with hopes of contending. Instead, they lost 93 games and finished fourth in the National League East.
"The record is not necessarily indicative of the talent I think we've got on the club that we had at the beginning of the season, and if we were healthy," general manager Kim Ng said. "Again, I think injuries really hurt us, and I think if we had half the injuries that we had, we would be talking about a different scenario. August and September can be a little bit deceiving because we brought up a bunch of rookies to see how they would play against Major League talent."
Here's 2022 in review:
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Defining moment: End of first half
The Marlins managed to stay afloat at two games below .500 until the Phillies swept them before the All-Star break. Miami scored one run that weekend, setting the tone for a 26-45 second half that included a 23-game stretch of scoring four runs or fewer, three shy of the Divisional Era record (since 1969).
What we learned: Never enough depth
Miami added Joey Wendle via trade to provide more positional flexibility alongside Brian Anderson and Jon Berti. That worked for the first month before the injury bug struck, with the Marlins finishing with the eighth-most days lost to injury in MLB per Baseball Prospectus.
"We did add depth, but over the course of 162 games, I think we saw that no matter how deep we thought we were, we need to do better," Ng said. "We need to do better in Triple-A, and I think that's also a function of a still-growing player-development system and making sure those players are progressing as quickly as they can."
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Best development: Pablo López and Jesús Luzardo
López had never pitched a full season because of shoulder issues, but the 26-year-old righty blew away his previous career highs for innings (180 from 111 1/3) and starts (32 from 21) by staying healthy. With a Top-15 fWAR, he proved to be a worthy No. 2 behind Sandy Alcantara.
When the Marlins acquired Luzardo ahead of the 2021 Trade Deadline, he was in the middle of a down season (64 ERA+ and 6.61 ERA). Outside of missing two months with a left forearm strain, the 25-year-old saw development across the board: a 123 ERA+ with 10.8 K/9 and 3/1 BB/9. A more reliable rotation could help with the next category …
Area for improvement: Hitting
Miami's free-agent signees Avisaíl García and Jorge Soler combined for 21 homers and 69 RBIs. Even with them healthy, the Marlins' lineup leaves much to be desired compared to the three playoff clubs within the division.
"I think the offense that we worked very hard on last offseason and trying to reconfigure, some of the performances were a little underwhelming, and I would have liked to have seen more," Ng said. "It points us in the direction of what we need to focus on this offseason."
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On the rise: Nick Fortes
Miami didn't recall Fortes until May 27. When Jacob Stallings scuffled, he saw more playing time and took advantage. Fortes, who turns 26 next month, saw significant improvement behind the plate. During his first big league stint in 2021, he committed one error and recorded four passed balls in seven games. He didn't make an error and had one passed ball in 59 games in '22. Before the season ended, then-manager Don Mattingly compared Fortes to Dodgers catcher Will Smith.
Team MVP: Alcantara
Alcantara should capture the franchise's first NL Cy Young Award after leading MLB in innings by a significant margin and recording the most complete games since 2016.
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TRIVIA
Who was the last Marlin to lead MLB in steals?
A.) Juan Pierre
B.) Luis Castillo
C.) Hanley Ramirez
D.) Dee Strange-Gordon
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ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE
This season marks the 25th anniversary of the 1997 World Series championship ballclub. In this latest installment, we catch up with manager Jim Leyland. This is Part 1 of 3.
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MLB.com: What was the pitch to join the Marlins?
Leyland: I actually had met and known Wayne Huizenga a little bit. Of course I knew Dave Dombrowski and Don Smiley from before just a little bit. Dave and I worked together with the White Sox when we first were in the big leagues, so we had a mutual respect for one another and knew each other and everything. I had a couple other opportunities to go other places, but they were both in the American League, and I wanted to stay in the National League, because that's the league I knew being at Pittsburgh. It worked out pretty good for us.
MLB.com: Did you feel the pressure of expectations?
Leyland: I didn't really feel any pressure. I knew we were going to have a good team, that's good pressure. So it's pressure, but it's good pressure, you know what I mean? Because I felt real confident that we had a good team. Went out and got a few players to add to what they had. I felt really confident going into Spring Training that we had a club that could contend, and then we had an unbelievable Spring Training. I was almost hoping we'd lose some games. I knew the expectations were going to be high, but that was good. The expectations were high for me, too. I felt great about it. Just going in, I really felt good about the whole thing.
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MLB.com: Do you remember what you said to the team on the first day of spring?
Leyland: I just remember that I mentioned how I wanted us to take the field with a confidence that all the good teams do. Not a cockiness, but an air about us that we were confident, when people were going to play us they knew that they were going to have their hands full. Just to be respectful of the game and play it the right way, bust our tails each and every day and let the chips fall where they may. If it's good enough, it's good enough. If it's not, it's not. There was no rah-rah stuff or anything, but it was just a basic thing that you talk to your team about.
Leyland: They were smart enough to know we had a good team, and they knew what was at stake. I think everybody had a great attitude about it. I can remember talking about one heartbeat, you know? That we had to have one heartbeat. That's how we're going to get it done. And we actually put that on our World Series ring.
MLB.com: Is there a play or moment that stood out?
Leyland: When Dennis Cook, one of our relief pitchers, got the game-winning hit [on Aug. 1]. That was something that kind of stood out. Sounds freaky because he was a relief pitcher. They don't usually hit, but he was a pretty good hitter. Stuff like that brings the team close together. All the players got a big kick out of it and boosted their ego for the day. He also had a great World Series, by the way, he didn't give up anything.
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• No. 11 prospect Sixto Sánchez recently underwent right shoulder arthroscopic bursectomy surgery, with the expectation he will be ready for Spring Training. He hasn't pitched in a MLB, MiLB or Grapefruit League game since March 2021 due to multiple setbacks.
"Sixto is in our plans for next year, provided he is healthy," Ng said.
• No. 13 prospect Victor Mesa Jr. is showing some pop early on at the Arizona Fall League.
• Outfielder Jerar Encarnacion and left-hander Dax Fulton were named MLB Pipeline's Marlins Prospects of the Year.
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THIS WEEK IN 1997
Oct. 14: Kings of the NL
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Kevin Brown outdueled Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in a 7-4 victory over the Braves at Turner Field in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series. Craig Counsell scooped a grounder to Edgar Renteria, who barehanded the flip to secure Brown's complete game and send the Marlins to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Bobby Bonilla collected a game-high three RBIs in a contest with no extra-base hits between both teams.
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TRIVIA ANSWER
D.) Strange-Gordon
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As a Marlin, Strange-Gordon led the Majors in steals in 2015 and '17, when he accumulated 60. |
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