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A One-Year Comparison of the Marlins...June 24th 2018

The Marlins of 2019 are much more different than the Marlins of 2018. And it is for the better. No more do the Marlins have to pitch Wei-Yin Chen every fifth day, they now have plenty of young and effective starters. Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez have shown flashes of brilliance, and at this time last year they hadn't made their Marlins debuts. Neither had Jordan Yamamoto, who through three starts has been dominant. Caleb Smith was very good this year before suffering another injury of which he is expected to come back from soon. Trevor Richards is pitching to a 3.54 ERA. The future for the Marlins' starting rotation is very exciting.

As for the hitters, Brian Anderson and Starlin Castro are the only ones from last year who have played consistently. Brian started the year off slow, but is heating up as of late, showing why he is the third baseman of the future in Miami. As for Castro...just please call up Isan Diaz soon. Anyway, instead of defensively limited Justin Bour across the diamond, we have Garrett Cooper, who absolutely tears the cover off the ball when healthy. It is time for those outside the Marlins' fanbase to notice. He is a big part of the Marlins' future. Realmuto was traded away, but netted Jorge Alfaro, whose season stats are very similar to J.T's, and has very good power. Miami's hitting is behind their pitching right now, but the talent is there. Oh, and Alfaro wasn't even the centerpiece of the trade. That would be Sixto Sanchez, whose pure stuff is better than that of any current Marlins starter. That trade is looking better and better for the Marlins as time goes on.

The Marlins have a bright future ahead of them. I could see this team competing in 2021 for the NL East crown. Young talent still waits in the minors, as we are still awaiting the debuts of Isan Diaz and Monte Harrison, and minor league star Zac Gallen has mad just one major league start. The Marlins aren't spending money on any one player right now apart from Chen's terrible contract and after 2020, I would love to Miami to spend some money and go after a big name FA or two. This would add more talent to an already good core of young controllable players, and Miami would be a force to be reckoned with in the NL. It's time to realize that the Marlins might seriously be competing in two years...that is very soon!

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