clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

What’s been your favorite Marlins lineup this season?

The Marlins have already started 18 different position players during this young season due to COVID-19 cases and platooning.

Miami Marlins v New York Mets
Brian Anderson has been one of the only constants for the Marlins offense this season.
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

There have been no easy decisions for Don Mattingly so far this season. He’s had to balance the objectives of developing young Marlins players while taking advantage of the unpredictability of a shortened regular season and expanded playoff field. In the middle of all of that, a COVID-19 outbreak within the club’s traveling party has sidelined more than half of the Opening Day active roster, including several of his productive individuals and veteran leaders.

Impressively, the Marlins managed to win seven of 10 games against the Phillies, Orioles and Mets (all series played at road ballparks), marking the best start to a season for the franchise since 2009. Mattingly pulled it off despite using 10 different starting lineups. Jonathan Villar leading off and Brian Anderson in the No. 5 spot are constants, but nothing else has been. In half of Miami’s plate appearances (178 of 355), batters have had the platoon advantage—that’s slightly lower than the MLB average.

Their results at the plate are volatile so far. The Fish put up 11 runs (four homers) in one contest, while being limited to a single run on a couple other occasions.

Take a look at the first 10 Marlins lineups. Do you have a favorite one? Any projections about what combination of batters the club should go with once infected players return from the injured list?