Miami Marlins 2013 Team Preview
The 2012 season was promising on paper, but baseball is not played on paper. The Marlins moved into their new stadium Marlins Park, and bought multiple players. The Marlins were suppose to be a top team in baseball but the players they brought in under performed, and all of them were traded. The Marlins went 69-93 and finished 5th in the NL East. The 2013 doesn’t look any brighter. The Marlins are not an improved team, and have major holes at every position. The 2013 season can be a long season for Marlin fans but multiple young and talented players have an opportunity to develop and become future all stars.
Marlins Hitting
The Marlins starting lineup could be one of the worst assembled lineups ever put together. They have a bunch of no named young players who could develop into solid baseball players down the road but not in 2013. At the top of their lineup they have Juan Pierre and Placido Polanco both old baseball players. Although Pierre is old he still has speed and can get 30 plus stolen bases in 2013. He also can help this team by having a batting average above .300 which he did in the 2012 season with the Phillies. Number three batter Justin Ruggiano had a very solid season in 2012 in only 91 games. He batted above .300 and had 13 homeruns and 14 stolen bases. In 2013 he can become a 20-20 guy which will help this team produce runs. Number four batter is all start Giancarlo Stanton who hits for average, and power. In 2012 he had 37 homeruns and batted .290. Stanton is the young center piece which this franchise is building around. Stanton is only 23 years old and is already putting up monster numbers. He can post MVP numbers but needs a lineup around him for his RBI numbers to increase.
Projected Marlins Lineup
1. Juan Pierre LF
2. Placido Polanco 3B
3. Justin Ruggiano CF
4. Giancarlo Stanton RF
5. Logan Morrison 1B
6. Rob Brantley C
7. Donovan Solano 2B
8. Adeiny Hechavarria SS
9. Pitcher
Marlins Pitching
The Marlins pitching staff could be one of the worst pitching staffs ever put together. The staff is very young and can become even younger when top prospect Jose Fernandez gets called up to the big leagues sometime this season. The ace of this staff is Ricky Nolasco. Last season Ricky was 12-13 with a 4.48 ERA. A 4.48 ERA in the national league is horrible. Ricky at best is a number three starter for most MLB teams. Their number 2 pitcher is Henderson Alvarez with Toronto last season had a 4.85 ERA. Alvarez should improve on these numbers. He is 22-23 years old and has tons of potential. Other pitchers include Nate Eovaldi, Jacob Turner and Wade LeBlanc. Nate Eovaldi had a 4.43 ERA last season, but he too is 22-23 years old and can improve on these numbers. Jacob Turner had a 8 ERA on Detroit and a 3.38 ERA on Miami last season. He too is 21-22 years old and has potential to dominate in the bigs. Finally Wade LeBlanc has been a spot starter and started 9 games last season. In those 9 games he had a 3.67 ERA.
Starting Rotation
1. Ricky Nolasco
2. Henderson Alvarez
3. Nate Eovaldi
4. Jacob Turner
5. Wade LeBlanc
The bull-pen of the Marlins consists of multiple young and inexperienced pitchers. Their closer is Steve Cishek who is a young sidewinder. He had 15 saves and a 2.69ERA in 2012. If Cishek can keep these numbers he can help the Marlins win in close games. After Steve the bull pen has Mike Dunn, Ryan Webb, Dan Jennings, and Chris Hatcher. In 2012 young pitcher Dan Jennings had a 1.89 ERA in 22 games. He is young and develop into this teams setup man. The other pitchers in this bullpen need to step up their numbers from 2012, to help this young team win.
Marlins Season Schedule Break Down
The Miami Marlins have a lot of games within the NL East their division. This includes multiple games against the young and talented Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and the New York Mets. Most of these teams in the NL East have improved and three of the five teams have a strong chance of making the playoffs. Every game within the NL East is very exciting and competitive. The Marlins in interleague play 2013 play the AL Central which includes the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Soxs, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, and Detroit Tigers. They also play a home and away series with the Tampa Bay Rays late in May.
Marlins Key Additions
1. SS Adeiny Hechavarria
2. RHP Henderson Alvarez
3. LF Juan Pierre
Marlins Key Departures
1. SS Jose Reyes
2. LHP Mark Buehrle
3. RHP Josh Johnson
Prediction
The Miami Marlins have one of the worst teams ever put together. After they tried to buy success in 2012, and traded all the players they bought; the Marlins are rebuilding. The Marlins have a zero to none chance to make the playoffs this season, and might end up with the worst record in MLB history. They are going to be at the bottom of the National League and most definitely the bottom of the NL East with the New York Mets. 2013 will be a long season for Marlins fans, so get ready to laugh at the comedy of errors that might occur to this team.
Miami Marlins Season Schedule 2013
Tickets to every game can be found on Whiztix.com. Whiztix.com is a free to use ticket search engine which compiles results from all the best and reliable websites on the resale market in one place. The price they show includes the transaction costs for the marketplaces they search through, so what you see is what you’ll wind up paying. This is a pretty useful tool for finding the best deals, or the cheapest tickets on the web.
Due to the fact that the Marlins will likely be towards the bottom of the NL east in 2013, its entirely likely that ticket prices will be very cheap. Whiztix expects the Marlins tickets to be well below face value(the price the Marlins charge for the tickets) for all but the most premium games this season. You’ll find the best deals on Whiztix.com. Test us out today!
