The 2019 season ended with the Miami Marlins finishing dead last in the National League with 57 wins. The win total was 12 fewer than the second-worst team on the senior circuit which was the Pittsburgh Pirates. Miami Marlins fans are preparing for a new season that will hopefully see improved performances. Fans can use the William Hill app to get the latest baseball bet bonuses before the Marlins break spring training.
The baseball club has now gone a decade without posting a record above .500 and it has been 17 years since it last made the playoffs. The Marlins’ last playoff appearance coincidentally saw them win their second World Series trophy.
Losing has become endemic to South Florida and the Marlins have been plagued with underperforming teams. If fans didn’t think things could get worse after 2018, they were dead wrong as last season showed a completely new way for the Marlins to lose games. In total, the club lost 105 games, which was only topped by Miami’s 1998 season (108 losses).
So, can things really get any worse for the Miami Marlins when next season begins?
The club has stuck with manager Don Mattingly and the 2020 campaign will be his fifth in charge of the team. Since his arrival, Miami has gone backwards in the win column and the manager has posted a .426-win percentage with the franchise,
After winning 79 games with the Marlins in 2016, the Fish have trended downwards with Mattingly in charge. Major League Baseball clubs may stay true to a manger in hopes of them turning around the franchise, but in the Marlins’ case, it feels like Mattingly’s inability to increase the team’s wins in four straight seasons should see a change made at the helm.
The Marlins have addressed some player personnel needs this offseason already. Perhaps the additions have been made to give Mattingly one last chance at cracking a .500 record. Jesus Aguilar and Jonathan Villar have both arrived and should upgrade the team in the field and at the plate.
Miami scored just 615 runs last season, which averages to 3.8 per game. The pitching and defense allowed 808 runs or 5.0 per game. The defensive upgrades of Aguilar and Villar should improve the team and give pitchers more confidence when on the hill.
Let’s not fool ourselves. The National League East is a difficult division with the current division winning Atlanta Braves, World Series winners the Washington Nationals, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the New York Mets. Each club is making moves to be even stronger next season and the East is certainly the toughest division in the National League. The National League East was the only Major League Baseball division in 2019 to have four teams at .500 or over.
The Marlins cannot be any worse in 2020 than they were last season. Of course, Marlins fans said that last winter. Aguilar and Villar are upgrades and so is new hitting coach James Rowson, who arrived from the Minnesota Twins. If Miami can make some more smart player personnel moves to accent the transactions already made, they could inch closer to that .500 mark.