Offishial news, 4/23/21: Hard-to-fill holes; Isan era over?

Somebody’s gotta step up

This has the makings of a catastrophic road trip for the Marlins. The quality of competition isn’t particularly tough, but Miami’s lineup can barely be considered major league-caliber now that Brian Anderson (left oblique strain) has joined Jorge Alfaro and Starling Marte on the injured list. They looked impotent in Thursday’s series opener against the Giants.

Aside from the occasional Adam Duvall or Jazz Chisholm Jr. moonshot, where is the power going to come from? It needs to be some combination of Jesús Aguilar, Corey Dickerson and Garrett Cooper. The trio have collectively barreled the ball in barely 1% of their plate appearances this season, a precipitous drop from 5.2% in 2020. Unacceptable considering their track records.

For the foreseeable future, the Marlins are essentially playing with a six-man lineup, unable to expect any offensive contributions from center field, catcher or the pitcher’s spot. They will be relying on more extra-base hits from everybody else to compensate for that.

Walk-off links

• FiveThirtyEight gives the Marlins a 47% chance to win their next game against the Giants.
• MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola explains why slumping Brian Anderson was on the verge of a turnaround before going on the IL.
• José Devers (born on December 7, 1999) will soon become the third-youngest active major league player. His call-up news came as a shock to most people, but not me!

• The fact that Devers made the taxi squad and got this big league opportunity over the much more experienced Isan Díaz suggests Díaz’s days in the Marlins organization are numbered. We discussed this topic in depth on Fish Stripes Live.
• Our roster tracker has been updated to reflect Thursday’s transactions.
• Women in baseball continue to deal with inequities and harassment despite Kim Ng’s historic hiring as Marlins general manager.
• Jorge Posada has taken a step back from his role as a special advisor to CEO Derek Jeter, but he still follows the Marlins’ progress closely.
• All of the Marlins players’ game-used jerseys and caps from Jackie Robinson Day are up for auction. The auction ends in two weeks.
• Former Marlins player Sterling Sharp is hosting an MLB The Show tournament to raise funds for his third annual Sharpest Player of the Year award. Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Marlins outfield prospect Lorenzo Hampton Jr. are among the professional baseball players involved.

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• Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp director of promotions David Ratz previews what fans can expect when attending games at 121 Financial Ballpark this season. His philosophy: “How close can we get to that line without crossing it and getting in trouble?”
• Over the next week, we are transitioning the Fish Picks daily prop bets contest to a special submission form. Bookmark it and check back each afternoon to make your picks!