Fish Stripes is excited to introduce a new “Marlin of the Month” tradition! We will choose four finalists based on statistical production and signature moments, then open the polls here on fishstripes.com and our Twitter account (@fishstripes). The leading vote-getter will be recognized in the site’s awards section.

A painful Marlins season just came to an end, but before we focus on what should be a pretty busy offseason for the Fish, let’s highlight the most productive players from September’s games and the first days of October.

Your Marlin of the Month options for September/October, in alphabetical order...

Finalists

RHP Sandy Alcántara (September/October: 2.90 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 43 K in 40.1 IP)

The winner of last month is on the list again, thanks to another strong performance despite, unfortunately, losing three of his six starts. However, Sandy pitched 40 ¹⁄₃ innings of 33 hits, 13 earned runs, only three walks, and 43 strikeouts. He limited the opposition to a .217 batting average.

His pitching exhibition included a brilliant nine-inning start against the Mets on September 8 in which he set a new career-high in strikeouts (14). He followed that one with eight shutout frames of one hit, no walks, and seven punchouts against the Nationals.

In a three-start run from September 8-19, he threw 23 innings of 11 hits and two earned runs, with two bases on balls and 25 Ks, plus a 0.78 ERA.

OF Lewin Díaz (September/October: .236/.269/.472, 5 HR, 8 RBI in 24 G)

You’re probably questioning Díaz’s name on this list after seeing his slash line. But he was a key player for the Marlins in the final month of the season, delivering clutch at-bats and playing strong defense at first base. He gave us a glimpse of why he’s been considered the long-term first baseman for the Fish.

Even though Díaz cooled down through the final week of the regular campaign, he enjoyed a pretty good run of 12 games between September 10-22. Over that span, he slashed .326/.354/.609 with six extra-base hits, five ribbies, and 15 total hits in 46 at-bats.

Hopefully, we’ll see more of this from Díaz in the 2022 season.

RHP Dylan Floro (September/October: 2.08 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 15 K in 13.0 IP)

Floro became the club’s closer after Yimi García was traded, and he did a pretty good job. September/October wasn’t the exception as he compiled eight saves even though the Marlins won only 12 total times.

After recording a blown save on September 19 against the Pirates, Floro finished the campaign with a win, three saves, and six shutout innings of two hits, three free passes, and seven strikeouts plus a .111 opponent batting average.

OF Jesús Sánchez (September/October: .266/.340/.564, 8 HR, 19 RBI in 26 G)

Sánchez embraced the last month of the season to prove he can be an everyday player. Before suffering a hamstring strain and landing on the injured list, he was carrying with the Marlins’ lineup.

Sánchez led the Fish in hits (25, tied with Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr.), home runs (8), and runs batted in (19), slugging percentage (.564), and OPS (.903).

Overall, he recorded six multi-hit games and had a brilliant period in six games from September 10-15: 8-for-24, one triple, five homers, 10 RBIs, and a 1.426 OPS.

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Honorable Mentions

• Bryan De La Cruz—he finished with 25 hits, with seven XBHs, 12 runs, and 10 ribbies.
• Jazz Chisholm—despite some inconsistency, Chisholm had six doubles, one triple, and four home runs. Scored 18 runs and led the team in that category.
• Richard Bleier—Bleier was just brilliant. In 10 ¹⁄₃ innings, he surrendered only two hits (singles), gave up two walks, and struck out seven. He won once and compiled four holds.