Icthyomancy: Divining what the stretch run holds.

Jorge Cantu is gone we need to deal with it. He's not coming back and as of late he hadn't been the most stellar of performer in the field and his usual proficiency as a hitter with men on base had been a little lackluster as of late. His impressive offensive pace that Cantu set for himself in April was unrealistic and his production numbers consistently went down as the season went on.

His replacement, most likely a Wes Helms, Bonerface platoon with a smattering of Hector Luna until Chris Coghlan returns will give the Fish a different dimension of speed on the bases and better defensive awareness at the "hot corner"

When Coghlan returns the Marlins lineup will have its lineup back to normal and Hanley will be able to return to the 3 hole and have the proper protection that he needs by hitting in front of Uggla. But for now having Hanley hit lead off is the best solution to setting the table until Coghlan comes back.

Scoring runs has never been the problem except for some stretches this season, the real problem has been the pitching, especially the bullpen.

Will Ohman is a massive improvement over Taylor Tankersley, Tank can't get anybody out and with Adam Dunn, Brian McCann, Ryan Howard and Ike Davis in this division the need for somebody to come out of the bullpen and effectively get left handers out is imperative.  In that department things look positive.

JJ, Ricky and Anibal have all been pluses out of the rotation giving  quality starts every time out.  With JJ being in the running for the Cy Young, at least based on his ERA and value to his team

If Chris Volstad pitches like he did today after working on his stuff and approach in New Orleans, Chris can be a positive like he was down the stretch in the 2008 season.

Whoever replaces Sanabia and Robertson, will definitely be better. If the starters pitch better and the bullpen is less taxed, it will be more effective like it was on Friday night.  Hensley, Veras, Nunez and the Hopper can be effective they've proven so.

So after looking into the guts of a dead marlin laying on the floor of my garage and peering deeply into its liver and seeing its clear as crystal. This is what the future holds. 36-22, which would work out to 89 wins. They'll be in the running but it'll come down to whoever loses the central or the San Francisco Giants.