Fish Cap: Marlins 2, Cubs 4

Source: FanGraphs

Anthony Rizzo Defeats Marlins Single-Handedly

Wade LeBlanc has been the weakest link in an already weak starting rotation for the Marlins. He was extremely hittable in his first four starts, and Friday night was no different. LeBlanc gave up eight hits in six innings, two of which left the baseball yard. The half-man, half-beast power mutant Anthony Rizzo proved too strong for our one-hundred percent man LeBlanc. After all, Rizzo does have a .306 isolated power for the season. Observe the monster at the plate.

LeBlanc's trend for the season has been high walk and high strikeout totals, but this facet of him was not on display tonight. He walked a single batter, while striking out just two. If LeBlanc could just take his side with good command and combine it with his side that misses bats, he might be an effective pitcher. This is wishful thinking, however. I might as well hope that the Marlins clone Giancarlo Stanton seven times. Then the team would score the most runs in baseball!

Offense Scores Two Whole Runs

If you hadn't noticed, the Marlins are struggling to score runs. In fact, they have scored the fewest runs in baseball by a healthy margin. Giancarlo Stanton has failed to perform, and the other Marlins batters range from terrible to average. Their on-base production matches the Chicago Cubs interestingly, as they both have team on-base percentages around .280. The principle difference is that the Cubs have hit twice as many home runs as the Marlins. Rizzo has personally hit two more home runs than the entire Marlins offense.

This may or may not be a game recap, so in the interest of recapping the game, I feel obligated to detail how the Marlins scored their two runs. Just as the team looked completely inert against Cubs starter Scott Feldman, Joe Mahoney hammered his first career home run to left field. In an otherwise dismal game, a small moment like that can make the experience of watching worthwhile. I am always pleased to see someone get their first home run.

The Marlins cobbled together another run in the seventh inning, beginning with a walk by Rob Brantly, then a double by Chris Coghlan, and finally a sacrifice fly by Chris Valaika.

I like to remind myself that it cannot get any worse than this. The Marlins have nowhere to go but up. Stanton should return to form shortly. Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez will come back to the land of the living. Time heals every wound, even the existential suffering of Miami Marlins fans.