Looking back, June was absolutely not the best month for the Marlins. They played to a 10-17 record, fell to last place in the NL East, and even lost four-plus games in a row THREE times. But especially considering what’s around the corner for them, they had interesting performers in June.

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.

Your options for June, in alphabetical order...

Finalists

RHP Sandy Alcántara (June: 2.59 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 29 K in 41.2 IP)

In six outings in June, Alcántara proved once again why he’s considered the ace. He finished the month with a 2-3 record, one complete game, and three starts of at least eight innings and one or zero runs. Throughout June, he faced the Blue Jays twice, the Braves, and the Nationals—three good offensive teams at least in terms of OPS—and he delivered. Alcántara led the team in innings pitched.

INF Jon Berti (June: .321/.400/.449, 2 HR, 8 RBI in 25 G)

Jon Berti gave the Marlins everything they could have asked for in June. He started in 24 of those 25 games and did a pretty good job. Got 25 hits (2nd-best on the team), four doubles (2nd), 15 runs (4th), 11 walks (2nd), and was the only qualified hitter to register a .300-plus batting average for the Marlins in the month. Berti has been great for the team replacing injured Brian Anderson.

OF Adam Duvall (June: .244/.296/.578, 9 HR, 23 RBI in 25 G)

Duvall makes the finalists list once again, this time thanks to a solid demonstration of his power at the plate. The outfielder led the team in both HR and RBI categories, and finished the month as the NL leader in runs batted in (56, tied with Ozzie Albies and Fernando Tatís Jr.). Duvall was probably the hottest in baseball from June 8-19, a span where he hit seven home runs and recorded 19 ribbies.

LHP Trevor Rogers (June: 2.73 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 34 K in 29.2 IP)

This impressive guy has taken every Fish Stripes Marlin of the Month honor so far and has accumulated more votes month after month. This time, he made a big case as well. Trevor added three quality starts to his count and didn’t allow more than three earned runs in any of his June outings. Led the team in WHIP, opponent batting average (among those with min. 15.0 IP), and strikeouts.

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Honorable Mentions

• Pablo López—led the team in wins (3). Despite being a bit inconsistent, had a 0.96 WHIP across 28 innings.
• Zach Thompson—pretty good showing of 1.50 ERA in 18 frames of work. After losing his first start, was stellar against Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington.
• Starling Marté—looked like what he is: the best pure hitter in the lineup. Led the Marlins in hits (28) and runs (20), got three doubles, four homers, and 10 runs batted in. Also racked up 11 walks and stole nine bases. Stats dipped near end of June with 0-for-20 slump.
• Anthony Bender—threw 11 innings without an earned run before allowing two on Tuesday. Struck out 14 hitters and opponents hit for a .135 batting average off him.