Fish Bites: Wednesday

Go back to 2009 and let me remind you what Hanley batted for the season: .342. He also had a .954 OPS (24 HR, 106 RBI). Why do I get the distinct feeling that we are not going to see this from Ramirez anytime soon? He is not batting for average this season (.259), and he is on pace to have the most strikeouts in a season (currently he has punched out 57 times). Its not to say he can't turn this around with more than half of the season remaining. However, whether its injury (shoulder), adjusting to a new position / ball park, or just that pitchers have figured him out, he does not even look like a guy teams should plan against. I feel like teams are more careful with Stanton, than they are with Hanley. And if its a protection issue, Hanley should be thriving now that he has Reyes and Bonifacio (when he comes back) on base ahead of him. Who cares who bats behind you if your guys are making the pitcher nervous about whether or not they will steal a base.

I am a believer that the Marlins can mask many of their deficiencies, and many of their holes, by just having Hanley return to form. In other words, its like we always say about this team, the Marlins go, as Hanley goes.

- Now that Roger Clemens has been found not guilty of lying to Congress, manager Ozzie Guillen says he would like to see the Rocket in the Hall of Fame. Of course this is assuming he is even elected. And you know what? I agree with Guillen on this one. Not only was Clemens the best pitcher of his era, he did so well for three different teams, while staying away from major injury. Think of all of the young flame throwers that have to lose significant amounts of time because of injury (Strasburg, Josh Johnson).

- Want to see the new banner for the Showtime series, The Franchise, starting the Miami Marlins? Click here and see more.

- If you are a fan of seeing Stanton hitting batting practice, you are not going to be that excited anymore. Giancarlo is now only hitting balls to right during BP. So now that the team is in Boston, people hoping to see him beat up the Green Monster, are going to see the direct opposite. Read more here.

- Buehrle and Buchholz duel Tuesday night in Fenway. The two teams have identical records, but are going in opposite directions. However, maybe the Marlins will turn it around in Boston? They have turned it around here before. Read Fish Chunks as they describe it.

- Steve Cishek grew up a Red Sox fan. As the series with Boston is about to start Tuesday night, Cishek is in a dream state. Read more here as the Miami Herald describes this reliever's fandom with the Sox.

- The Miami Marlins agreed to terms with 25 of their selections in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. Vice president of scouting, Stan Meek, announced this on Monday. The team however has yet to reach an agreement with first round pick, Andrew Heaney.

Around the League

- The Diamondbacks' Aaron Hill hits for the cycle Monday night. His last hit in the seventh was a solo home run. Read more here.

- The Braves have released Livan Hernandez. He is not giving up hope on finding a new team however. Read here.

- Skip Schumaker has been activated from the DL by the St. Louis Cardinals. He got injured three weeks ago.

At Fish Stripes

- The Marlins have not played well recently, as we all know. But they have not played easy teams either. Read more here about how the strength of schedule has worked against the team recently.

- The Miami Marlins offense, did we overestimate it? Click here to read more from Mr. Jong.