Marlin of the Month: August 2022

August was a really difficult month for Marlins fans. The offense was a thousand miles from being decent, the whole team took 20 losses—their highest total since August 2019 (22)—and only eight wins were added to their record in the eighth month of the year. The Marlins averaged an abysmal 2.2 runs per game. Nonetheless, we are going to vote for the best performer in August among four candidates (unsurprisingly all pitchers).

As usual, we have chosen four names who performed the best for the Marlins over the past month based on statistical production and signature moments. The polls are open here on fishstripes.com and on our Twitter account (@fishstripes). The leading vote-getter will be recognized in the site’s awards section.

Your options for August, in alphabetical order...

Finalists

RHP Sandy Alcántara (August: 2.72 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 29 K in 36.1 IP)

Alcántara has been the Marlin of the Month for the past three months thanks to his memorable season which makes him the frontrunner for the NL Cy Young award. In August, Sandy threw two complete games—more than 28 of the 30 MLB teams in August—with one of them being a shutout. Alcántara’s ERA would have been 1.38 had not been for his ugly August 21 outing against the Dodgers (6 ER over 3.2 IP). Even though the Marlins averaged 2.8 runs in Sandy’s August starts, he managed to win thrice.

RHP Edward Cabrera (August: 1.91 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 33 K in 28.1 IP)

Cabrera led all Marlins pitchers (at least five starts) in ERA throughout August. He only allowed 13 hits and held opponents to a .137 batting average. But here’s the best part: Cabrera’s six earned runs came on his last start (Sunday against Dodgers). Before that one, he had thrown 22 ²⁄₃ shutout innings with eight hits allowed and 28 strikeouts. Cabrera’s August performance went a long way toward establishing him as a worthy member of the rotation for 2023.

LHP Jesús Luzardo (August: 2.97 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 32 K in 36.1 IP)

In what’s been a difficult year plagued by injuries, Luzardo has shown what he can do on the mound when healthy. Despite not throwing since May 10, Luzardo made his comeback in August and looked pretty solid for the Fish. He finished the month with three consecutive quality starts. His WHIP and his opponent batting average (.189) tell us even more about Luzardo’s return to form.

LHP Steven Okert (August: 0.93 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 11 K in 9.2 IP)

Okert kept going as one of the Marlins best relievers in 2022 with a strong performance in August. He began the month allowing his lone run across 11 appearances. Then, he went 8 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings of five hits, one walk, and 10 punchouts. Even better, his opponents posted a weak .161/.188/.194/.381 slash line since August 5.

Here are your options. Time to vote!

Honorable Mentions

• Charles Leblanc—led the team in hits with 20.
• Tommy Nance—had a 0.87 ERA across 10 ¹⁄₃ innings with 12 strikeouts.