Fish Bites: Wednesday

The Miami Marlins keep plugging along. The team is playing well. And now they get the luxury of playing at home for a few games. And while the Fish are barely above .500, I think its safe to say they are past their early season woes. As a team anyway. Immediate holes to fix still include Gaby Sanchez and his poor start at the plate, Heath Bell obviously, and John Johnson and how long until he notches his first victory of the season (he actually beat the Pirates Tuesday night).

Regardless, its great to see the Fish are coming around. And like I have said for a few weeks now, as long as the pitching stays this good, once the hitting comes around, the ball club will be a candidate to go on another long winning streak. The Fish have power, speed, and clutch hitting to be able to do this. They have shown these qualities even thought they are not hitting much.

- The NL East is tough. Want to know how tough it is? Four of the five teams in the divison are above .500. The only team that is under .500 has been the best team in the division the last few years (Philadelphia). Whoever comes out of this division will be battered. The competition will make sure of that.

- The Miami Marlins are still number 10 in the latest CBS New York baseball power rankings. The article says the Fish have been the comeback kids recently. Just ask the Mets.

- Rare pitching line for Ryan Webb Monday night. He recorded an out in one-third of an inning, without facing a batter. He came on to pitch with a man on first and two outs. John Buck then threw out the base stealer trying to steal second. So there you go.

- The New Orleans Zephyrs beat the Las Vegas 51s Tuesday afternoon, 5-2. Scott Cousins provided all of the offensive lift needed as he drove in three runs. Read more here.

- The Marlins are leading the league in team stolen bases. Obviously we knew this would be a huge part of their season going into 2012. When you have Emilio Bonifacio, Hanley Ramirez, and Jose Reyes at the top of your line up, you have to run. This will come in handy later on when the hitting catches up to the pitching.

- Marlins Daily writes on a guy that went under the radar before the season, but now is one of baseball's best at his position. None other than Omar Infante. He is leading the Marlins in a ton of offensive categories. And his defense has always been good. Let's see if he can keep this up.

Around The League

- Matt Kemp heads to the 15-Day DL with a hamstring issue. That stops a streak of consecutive games played. Oh well. Read more here.

- Justin Morneau will be activated from the disabled list on Wednesday. What happened to this guy? Used to be one of the premiere hitters in the game. Read more here.

- Coming to a minor league stadium near you, Manny Ramirez! Are you excited? He starts this Saturday in Albuquerque. Read more here.

At Fish Stripes

- Read Emilio Bonifacio, version 3.0 from Mr. Jong. Including some baseball heat maps if you are interested in that. It is a very well written piece on a player that has gotten better all the time.

- Please vote for your favorite Miami Marlins handshake below. Hanley Ramirez has to be hitgh on the list. I feel like every time I look up he is hand shaking some one.