I was thinking...

A collection of random thoughts from the bleachers

I wrote yesterday about the the challenge of trying to score enough runs to win games when you have a lineup that mostly hits singles, which is essentially the Marlins’ strategy this year after struggling to hit home runs since trading away Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich after the 2017 season.

As if on cue, they lost to the Twins, 11-1, last night despite out-hitting Minnesota, 12-10. The Marlins hit 10 singles and 2 doubles in the series opener. The Twins won with 4 single, a double, a triple and 4 home runs.

Hmmmmm.

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There’s an old baseball adage that you can’t win a pennant in April, but you can lose one.

This 2023 Marlins team is not a pennant contender. In my opinion, and in the opinion of most, it’s not a 3rd-place contender. And that’s not an overreaction to a 1-4 start during which the club has been outscored 28-9. It’s just a fact when you compare the 26-man roster of this team to that of the Braves, Mets and Phillies.

But as I wrote last week about the importance of this team making a dramatic step forward in 2023, this is not a year to wait around, telling people, “It’s early.”

Leashes need to be short. Extreme weaknesses need to be addressed quickly.

In the perennial quest to make people in South Florida care, this team cannot afford to be 10 games back at the end of April. And with upcoming trips to New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Atlanta, storm clouds are gathering.

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If you’re a team that struggles to score runs, has lost an inordinate number of one-run games in recent years and is counting on your pitching staff to lead you to victory, shouldn’t defense be more of a priority than it has been for the Marlins?

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