Miami Marlins buy or sell: June edition

Another mediocre month down the drain for the Miami Marlins, and with Giancarlo Stanton injured for the next four to six weeks, there are but a few things to keep an eye on heading into July. However, a few players on the Marlins are making headlines for positive or negative reasons thanks to the month of June. On whom can we count on among the Fish, and on whose bandwagon should we jump off?

Buy: Mat Latos

After the latest Mat Latos start, the numbers are still promising.

This does not include yesterday's strong showing against the Chicago Cubs. Latos's velocity is up two mph from his work before the DL stint, and the longer it continues this way, the more likely it is to stick around. His last start did show a reasonable dip in velocity, as he was averaging 92 mph and change on what was classified as his four-seam fastball. Still, another strong performance in the books.

The issue now is how much more does Latos have to show that he has before Miami pulls the trigger on a trade now that the team is seriously considering selling at the trade deadline. Teams have some interest in the big righty, and it could be a beneficial move for the club to make a deal and divulge itself of the ongoing concern that, at any time, Latos's velocity might drop back down. For now, however, I am buying on Latos, and so should the rest of the league.

Sell: Adeiny Hechavarria at the plate

He had a nice start, but once again Hechavarria is showing that he just is not a player who can be counted upon at the dish. After the luck-filled .321/.349/.481 month of April (.354 wOBA), Hechavarria is still showing most of his old habits at the plate in the subsequent months. He hit .258/.303/.387 (.295 wOBA) in June, which would have been 15 percent worse than league average. He did connect on two home runs, but the power at this stage is still questionable and waxes and wanes. More importantly, his plate discipline still remains subpar for a player who has .100 ISO type of power. His 6.3 percent walk rate was the best of his months thus far, but still below the league average.

In the last two months, Hechavarria has essentially hit the way he has hit the entire last year. While that is an improvement over the horrific 2013, it is still a ways to go to be the hitter fans seem to superficially think he is thanks to his batting average.

Buy: Adeiny Hechavarria in the field

All of this is to say that this level of hitting would still be acceptable thanks to Hechavarria's defensive play. UZR and DRS both see him as well above average this season. The BIS-based raw zone numbers show at least a modest improvement from last season; in 2014, Hechavarria was 16th in in-zone rate of balls converted into outs, while he stands at ninth as of right now. It should be interesting to see how this trend continues, but given the already-established scouting knowledge about Hechavarria, it may be safer to say that he is an effective above-average shortstop at this stage.

Sell: Dee Gordon's plate discipline

Dee Gordon hit .304/.304/.400 last month with a .362 BABIP that finally dropped below .400 for a month. The fact that on-base percentage equaled his batting average shows you one critical point: Gordon did not draw a walk all month long. In fact, the last time Gordon drew a walk before the July 4 game against the Chicago Cubs was May 25, meaning he went approximately 153 plate appearances without a single free pass. For those who were saying Gordon's discipline and plate approach were the reason for his early success, this begs to differ.

It is not as though Gordon did a great job avoiding the other pitfall of his aggressive approach, the strikeout. He whiffed on 17.4 percent of plate appearances last month and 18.3 percent of the total chances since the last time he walked. His work in June at the plate was as aggressive as it has been all year, with a swing rate of about 52 percent and a 40 percent rate on balls out of the strike zone. Swinging more may be a wiser plan for Gordon, but his lack of distinction between balls and strikes bit him all of last month,

Buy: Giancarlo Stanton

He hit 13 home runs and batted .344/.404/.800 (.504 wOBA) in June. That was the best month he has ever recorded in hitting the baseball. He used that month to get voted into the All-Star Game as a starter for the first time!

Sell: Giancarlo Stanton's absence

Shame he won't make it to the game because of the hand injury at the end of the month. We'll miss you Giancarlo. Come back soon please!