Fresh Fish News, 4/14/19: Offensive woes, looking ahead to the draft

The Miami Marlins are being dragged down into the NL East cellar by an almost nonexistent offense, though there have been a few standouts and generally solid starting pitching. Even with a bad start in the standings, Fish Stripes continues to bring you all the news from this past week.

MLB Game Recaps

The Marlins lost their series finale to the Atlanta Braves, got swept by the Cincinnati Reds, and split a pair against the Philadelphia Phillies (with the rubber game approaching Sunday afternoon). They went 1-5 and are now 4-11 overall this season.

April 7—Braves 4, Marlins 3: Miami sent Caleb Smith to the mound hoping to secure the series victory after winning one of the two games against the Braves. He went seven innings giving up three runs on four hits but with seven strikeouts. The Marlins offense was fueled by an RBI walk for Miguel Rojas, an RBI infield single by Smith and a game-tying ninth inning HR by Curtis Granderson. The Braves would end up walking it off on Adam Conley in the bottom of the ninth on a Dansby Swanson hit.

April 9—Reds 14, Marlins 0: In the first game of a three game series against the Reds the Marlins got shutout. Jose Urena started the game but gave up four runs on eight hits with three walks and four strikeouts in four innings. The collapse came when Wei-Yin Chen came in and gave up 10 runs in two innings with the Reds blasting 5 HRs off of Chen. The Marlins offense was non-existent only getting four hits with Lewis Brinson having two of them.

April 10—Reds 2, Marlins 1: Trevor Richards was sent to the mound and did well shutting out the Reds for six innings with seven strikeouts but issuing five walks. Neil Walker provided the only run on a Solo HR in the third. Drew Steckenrider surrendered the game-tying and winning HRs in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Reds.

April 11—Reds 5, Marlins 0: The series finale saw Pablo Lopez throw four-plus innings giving up four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. The Marlins offense again could not wake the bats and were shutout again with Brian Anderson the only Marlin to get two hits and Miami only getting five hits total.

April 12—Phillies 9, Marlins 1: Sandy Alcantara pitched the first of a three game series against the Phillies and went five innings giving up six runs on 11 hits with two walks and six strikeouts. freshly called up Austin Dean got the only run for the Marlins on a sac fly RBI in the 7th. Jorge Alfaro got two hits with the Marlins getting just five hits during the game.

April 13—Marlins 10, Phillies 3: The Marlins were able to break out this game scoring 10 runs on 18 hits against the Phillies. Caleb Smith started this game and threw 6 shutout innings allowing only one hit and six strikeouts. Austin Dean provided a majority of the offense going 4-for-4 with a HR and 5 RBIs. Neil Walker hit a solo HR while Brian Anderson had three hits as well as a HR. Miguel Rojas also went 3-3 with an RBI.

Austin Dean Called Up, Peter O’Brien Optioned

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The Marlins had to do something to break out of their run-scoring drought. So on Friday, they demoted Peter O’Brien to Triple-A New Orleans and recalled OF Austin Dean. O’Brien failed to impress during his couple weeks as the steady right fielder, only hitting .111 with 1 HR and 2 RBIs. Dean earned the opportunity with a hot start in Triple-A batting .375 with 6 RBIs after having already succeeded at that level last season.

Fish Stripes has created a virtual “Marlins Clubhouse” for fans to stay updated on the active roster and recent player performances at all levels of the organization.

Curtis Granderson Appears on Beyond the Bases

Miami Marlins outfielder and 16-year major league veteran Curtis Granderson joined the team’s Beyond the Bases podcast to talk about why he decided to sign with the Marlins and to update his philanthropic work off the field. Granderson provides great insight on MLB’s strategy to revive baseball in inner-city areas.

The episode of the podcast can be heard here.

Financial Future of the Franchise

Photo by Danis Sosa/Fish Stripes

The Marlins will need a significant revenue boost to consistently contend moving forward. The Sun Sentinel’s Wells Dusenbury explains where they stand when it comes to corporate partnerships, a new local TV deal, ticket sales and potential stadium naming rights.

Dusenbury does an excellent job distinguishing how new team leadership is approaching business differently than the Jeffrey Loria regime used to.

New Episodes of the Fish Stripes Podcast

Earning Their Stripes and A-Ball with Erik Oas, our two new minor league shows, react to the beginning of the 2019 MiLB season. Fish Bites also has an episode identifying surprises and disappointments at the major league level and changes to the fan experience at Marlins Park following “ballpark enhancements” over the winter.

Listen and subscribe here.

2019 MLB Draft Profiles

Our own Hector Rodriguez launched a new series of player profiles to highlight candidates for the Marlins to consider with the No. 4 overall pick this June. It’s their highest draft position since 2014.

The first two articles introduce you to speedy shortstop CJ Abrams and powerful slugger Rece Hinds (both high school prospects committed to SEC programs).

The Marlins are hoping to put the past behind them and grow from the struggles this past week. Win or lose, stick with Fish Stripes for all your Miami Marlins news and analysis.