The Marlins lineup card and what it means

For the first time all year the Miami Marlins have repeated lineups in consecutive games. On Tuesday, they started Juan Pierre, Placido Polanco, Derek Dietrich, Marcell Ozuna, Justin Ruggiano, Greg Dobbs, Adeiny Hechavarria and Rob Brantly, and on Wednesday they started the same players.

Up to this point in the season the Miami Marlins and Mike Redmond had rejected the idea of a "go to" lineup in favor of whatever they felt best that day, and apparently that was never what they had yesterday. Until Wednesday.

It is hard to tell what this means about the Miami Marlins. I personally do not think it means anything really. It just shows an organization in flux. With all the injuries to regular starters like Giancarlo Stanton and Donovan Solano and the necessary call-ups of rookies have kept the Miami Marlins from starting the same players in the same spot in the lineup for two days in a row, for the first month and a half of the season. Day-to-day the Marlins are naturally in motion with pitching match-ups and scheduled rest. When you add in the amount of injuries the Marlins have had you get utter chaos.

Even Marlins executive Larry Beinfest has gone on the record and said "I don’t even know who is here anymore." The simple fact that a well-informed team executive said something like this tells us that the top management in the Miami Marlins are surprised. In other words, something is going wrong and the Miami Marlins have not even had the chance to acclimate to their present situation. Marcell Ozuna, Derek Dietrich, and Jose Fernandez are up in the major leagues and it is impossible not to wonder if the Miami Marlins are jumping the gun on their farm system.

The Marlins are disoriented and it shows. The lineup card is really just a symbol for greater and deeper confusion. The 2013 Miami Marlins have not even gotten a break long enough for Mike Redmond to be able to settle on a lineup for multiple days. Plus, injuries have forced the hand of the Miami Marlins rebuilding plan. The Marlins are growing impatient with the current and are trying to change for the future, but this cannot happen overnight. The team needs to improve through the farm, growing and exhibiting talent, which takes patience and time. Not the quick fix the Marlins are seeking with all these minor changes.

Maybe this recent consistency means that the Marlins have accepted that they cannot do much now, maybe it is a sign that the Marlins are close to settling in after a chaotic first bit of the season and maybe it means nothing. We will just have to wait and see which.