2016 State Of NL East: Miami Marlins

We conclude our State Of The NL East series by previewing Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins

Today, we finish up our preview of the NL East by looking at the Miami Marlins. Last season, the Marlins finished third place in the NL East with a 71-91 record, well behind the Washington Nationals and the New York. After Miami fired manager Mike Redmond in the middle of the season, general manager Dan Jennings came down to manage the team.

This offseason, the Marlins went out and got former Dodgers’ skipper Don Mattingly to be their new manager. Plus, Miami had the splash of the offseason from a coaching perspective when they hired Barry Bonds to be their new hitting coach.

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As far as player moves went, Miami’s biggest move of the offseason was the signing of former Orioles’ starter Wei-Yin Chen. With the signing of Chen, it gives Miami a formidable number two starter behind their ace, Jose Fernandez. The question will be whether or not Miami can get production from the other three starters in the rotation.

From an offensive perspective, Dee Gordon provided a lot of speed and production at the top of the order last year. Gordon hit a league leading .333 and stole 58 bases (most in the NL). While the Marlins have some good pieces in their lineup with Gordon and Christian Yelich, they need Stanton to stay healthy after playing in only 74 games last year due to a broken bone in his left hand.

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So far this spring, Miami has had one big injury to their bullpen as Carter Capps had to undergo Tommy John surgery. However, A.J. Ramos stepped up for Steve Cishek (now with the Mariners) last season and had 32 saves (ninth in the NL) in 38 chances.

To get more information on the Marlins, I spoke with Sean Millerick, who is the editor over at the Marlins’ FanSided site, Marlin Maniac. You can find our Q+A exchange below:

Ricky: How would you grade the Marlins’ offseason?

Sean: I’d give em a B. They got their biggest need in a second top of the rotation SP. I would have liked an addition on offense considering the team placed 29th in the majors in that category, but this was also a team that saw all nine players on its Opening Day lineup card from 2015 either miss significant time due to injury (seven) or struggle enough to be sent down or released (two). The offense might just fix itself. But I won’t lie- I would have liked a new starting corner infielder. So B it is.

R: What impact do you expect Wei-Yin Chen to have on the starting rotation?

S: Stable, steady production. Basically Chen is a “good Tom Koehler“, as opposed to Tom Koehler’s “fair on occasion Tom Koehler” that easily led the club in nearly every pitching category last season. Chen will be one of most unexciting top of rotation tossers in the league this year, but also one of the most underrated. He’ll help take pressure off a bullpen that was stretched too often these past two seasons, and should take a lot of pressure off the rest of the rotation as well.

R: What were your thoughts on Don Mattingly being named the manager and Barry Bonds as the new hitting coach?

S: I liked the Mattingly hiring because it was the opposite of the Dan Jennings move, which pushed the “managers are overrated” maxim to a ridiculous degree. The numbers suggest he’s actually just average, but compared to last year, he’s a savant. It’s the Bonds move that really had me excited; if he can impart a fraction of his plate discipline to Miami’s outfielders, look out NL East.

R: With Carter Capps needing Tommy John surgery, how do you expect the Marlins’ bullpen to perform this year?

S: Losing Capps hurts for sure- there’s no replacing that power and presence on the mound. But you can also do a lot worse than A.J. Ramos as closer, and a lot of the reports on the Capps injury make it sound like Miami lost their go to reliever. That would be Ramos, who’s been that guy since 2014. Losing Capps removes the chance for an elite pen, but there’s still enough talent there for the unit to be a strength.

R: Last year, we saw Matt Harvey and the innings limit story linger in the second half of the season. Do Marlins’ fans expect the same thing to happen to Jose Fernandez this year?

S: No, but it’s because we have lower expectations. There’s no concerns about that issue festering because we’re not expected to contend. If we do though, that’ll be interesting to see. Fernandez is famously a fierce competitor, and will not having August and September innings managed lightly if the games count. But with venom reserved for our ownership, the team will take far more of a hit than Fernandez or his agent if this situation ends being more Strasburg than Harvey.

R: What has been the position battle to watch this spring?

S: The back of the rotation. Everything else was set heading into Spring Training with the possible exception of closer, which resolved itself before Grapefruit League play began. Who would step up and take those spots behind Chen/Fernandez/Koehler though has been the story of camp.

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R: Who are some of the prospects to watch in 2016?

S: Going to start by cheating a bit and answering No. 6 more clearly- Adam Conley. He’s been nothing less than stellar this spring, serving up an ERA of 1.86. Even if he’s twice as worse during the regular season, that could be enough to push Miami into October. But beyond that, if you mean prospects in the truest sense, the cupboard is pretty bare. Keith Law wasn’t being harsh when he came up with only Marlins prospect being worth listing in his Top 100, and he didn’t crack the Top 96. Ask me again after we trade Marcell Ozuna.

R: X-Factors and what is your prediction for the Marlins’ 2016 season?

S: 80-82. This will be an improved unit, but ownership seems to be asking a lot of health of a group that has honestly had some of the worst luck in the majors in that department the last two seasons. And 2016 saw Capps go down before spring games even started. However, I’m basing that number on Stanton and Fernandez missing some time, the back of the rotation struggling, and only one of the Yelich- Ozuna tandem putting together a full season. If those factors break Miami’s way, I see the club’s third Wild Card berth.

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