Fish Bites: Wednesday

Do you know what the Marlins have done in May so far? Only off the best May start in franchise history. That's all. Three times they have started May 5-2. The most recent was in 2008. That month they ended 16-11. Let's see what these Marlins do now that they are off to a 7-0 perfect run, and their best pitcher was on the mound Tuesday night in Houston (Sanchez). I think they have a real shot of matching the most wins in any month (19 set in August 1997). Remember that the Fish have quite a few home games coming up. So now is the fan's turn to provide a real lift starting this Friday night against the Metropolitans.

- Pay attention to three guys down on the farm that have gotten off to great starts. Position player and pitcher alike. One is Alex Sanabia. He must be itching to come back up to the big show. After seven starts, he has a strike out to walk ratio of 34/3. And his ERA is 2.17. Another guy is Jake Smolinski in Double A. He came over in the same deal that brought Emilio Bonifacio from the Nationals and sent Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham in that direction. He is off to a blazing start batting .355 after 76 ABs. By the way, he plays left field. Finally, Christian Yelich is still a beast at Jupiter. A .313 average with three home runs and 25 total hits. He is not ready for the big leagues obviously, but he continues to hit. Which is a great sign.

- Early on, Ryan Webb is one of many Marlin pitchers in the bullpen that is getting it done. With the exception of Heath Bell of course. Webb feels the entire bullpen can set up for the closer. All members are that talented. "Every body's come out and proved they can pitch." I like this guy. And he throws hard. And unlike Mike Dunn, he is returning to form after being injured much of the last two years.

- New Balance debuts a Hanley Ramirez cleat. The link includes over ten pictures of the new shoe. Hanley says this brand has the whole package. Sounds good.

- CBS New York has the Marlins in the top 10 of their latest MLB Power Rankings. I'll take that. Any team that gets on a seven game winning streak should at least hover around ten. Better yet, the Marlins have done all of this on the road. The road is where they historically play better ball anyway. Some things never change I guess. See more here.

- Great blog on Big Z and how he is a changed person after rediscovering his faith. He did this while he was suspended by the Cubs. Believe what you want. The most noticeable thing in Zambrano early on is that he is laughing on the mound while he pitches. You can't tell me he doesn't look like he's having fun.

- David Schoenfield welcomes Giancarlo back into the mix this week. He welcomes back Jason Heyward of the Braves as well. Basically, David agrees with me. With all the talk about Hanley and Reyes, its Giancarlo that can really make this a powerful offense. And soon we will see that when he is moved back to clean up in the order.

Around the League

- Casey Blake has officially retired from baseball. He's not looking to come back either. Read more here.

- Even though he hasn't pitched all that well in Triple A, Andy Pettitte will start Sunday against the Mariners. While we all knew this was coming, I would have waited a little longer until he was really ready. Oh well.

- Kenley Jansen is replacing Javy Guerra as the closer for the LA Dodgers. Funny thing, Guerra hasn't pitched all that poorly. The complete opposite of Heath Bell who has pitched bad since opening day.

At Fish Stripes

- Zach James gives you the tweet of the week. Guess who its from? Man you are smart! It is another LoMo tweet. Click here.

- Have you made you Pick Six picks for tomorrow? All it takes is one minute. Get in so we can all battle it out. Read a little more about this game here.