Fresh Fish News, 6/9/19: Offense struggling again, Marlins draft review, Castro reaches 1,500 hits

The Miami Marlins have been on a run as of late that has been nothing short of fun. We here at Fish Stripes are happy to be able to cover the Marlins and bring you all the news, analysis and draft coverage from this past week.

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Marlins Game Recaps

The Marlins continued their winning ways by beating the San Diego Padres in the series finale. They then went on to take 2 out of 3 from the Milwaukee Brewers and returned home to lose the first two games against the Atlanta Braves. For the week, they went 3-3 and are now 23-39 overall.

June 2—Marlins 9, Padres 3; Trevor Richards got the start against the Padres and dominated going 5 innings giving up 1 hit and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts. The Marlins offense produced 9 runs on 13 hits with Jorge Alfaro and Garrett Cooper each hitting HRs while Harold Ramirez and Brian Anderson got 3 hits each.

June 4—Marlins 16, Brewers 0; In what was a record-setting game, the Marlins sent Pablo Lopez to the mound who threw 7 shutout innings allowing 3 hits, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts. The offense was the story of the game as they scored a record 11 runs in the 5th inning.

All starting position players and the pitcher got a hit and an RBI in the game. Starlin Castro, Brian Anderson and Garrett Cooper hit a HR and Cooper also went 4-for-5.

June 5—Marlins 8, Brewers 1; Sandy Alcantara got the ball for the Marlins and continued his run of dominance going 7 innings and allowing 1 run on 5 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts. The Marlins offense showed up again scoring 8 runs on 10 hits with the biggest blow coming from Brian Anderson’s grand slam in the 3rd inning.

June 6—Caleb Smith, was looking to keep the Marlins winning streak going, but lasted only 5 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks with only 2 strikeouts. The Marlins could only score 1 run on 5 hits, the run coming off a Cooper RBI single in the 6th.

June 7—Braves 7, Marlins 1; Jose Urena got the ball in the return home for the Marlins and did not pitch more than 3 innings allowing 7 runs on 11 hits and 1 walk with only 2 strikeouts to the Braves lineup. The Marlins were only able to again get 5 hits and score 1 run which came in the 9th inning on an RBI single by Castro.

June 8—Braves 1, Marlins 0; Richards was tasked with keeping the Atlanta lineup from scoring runs and he did the best he could going 7 innings and allowing only 1 run on 2 hits and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts. The Marlins although out-hitting the Braves 4 hits to 3, could not score a single run and lost the game 1-0.

Roster Updates

LHP Caleb Smith was placed on the injured list with left hip inflammation and RHP Tyler Kinley was called up from Triple-A to take his roster spot. Smith had been managing the pain for several weeks, which led to a dip in his fastball velocity and mediocre results on the mound.

It is expected that RHP Elieser Hernandez will swap spots with Kinley in order to start Tuesday’s Marlins game.

Marlins Communications

Starlin Castro Reaches 1,500 Hits

Starlin Castro reached 1,500 hits on Friday night against the Braves with a double off Mike Soroka. Joe Frisaro wrote an article about the milestone and how there is still much left in the tank for the 29-year-old Castro.

Whether it’s with the Marlins or another club, he figures to have a realistic shot at getting 2,000 hits.

Exploring Jose Urena’s Trade Market

With the way Jose Urena has pitched for much of this season, many are starting to realize how good he can be and the value he may have as a trade chip for the rebuilding Marlins. Fish Stripes’ own Luis Davila takes a look at his ace and explores which teams could use a pitcher like Urena.

Reviewing the Marlins’ MLB Draft

After months of preparation and anticipation, the 2019 MLB Draft came and went and many fans were excited by what the Marlins did. In what has been considered by analysts and writers alike as the best draft the Marlins have had in a long time, they selected JJ Bleday as their #4 pick in the first round, grabbed Kameron Misner with the #35 pick and took Nasim Nunez in the 2nd round at #46.

The Marlins added many collegiate bats throughout the draft. In a system that needs more hitting prospects, you can see why their 2019 class has garnered praise from across the baseball industry.

Podcast Episodes

The Fish Stripes podcast is home to Miami Marlins shows Fish Bites, Earning Their Stripes and A-Ball with Erik Oas. All new episodes are posted to FishStripes.com/podcasts. You can also find them on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods.

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With the MLB Draft now out of the way, we can now focus on how the Marlins have turned things around as of late and hope that they can keep this momentum going despite losing three in a row. No matter what, though, Fish Stripes will be here for all the news, analysis and stories regarding your Miami Marlins.