Marlins Come From Behind, Win 8-5

[Bobbob1313]

I'd be ecstatic if Hech put up a .620 OPS.

[Nick]

We'll see, we've seen him get hot like he is right now, the skills are there, it's just getting him to stop from having those 2 months in a row were he is basically an automatic out.

[Erick]

What's more concerning than the inevitable regression from the offense is the fact that Jacob Turner is not good at pitching. The guy has been garbage for awhile and probably doesn't belong in the big leagues right now.

[Bobbob1313]

He topped a .700 OPS once in the minors, and he was still a solidly below-average hitter for his league. He's just very bad at hitting baseballs.

[dim]

Yeah. Hech being even the 29th best SS in baseball would be an improvement.

The Marlins need to learn quick that Jones is a platoon player, not an everyday guy.

I don't think I can pinpoint the key to the season on one player. I think everybody needs to improve. Salty just needs to be better than Mathis was last year, McGehee needs to be a mini version of what Cantu was for us, Yelich needs to take that next step and be a .290 hitter this year, Ozuna needs to continue to be a contact hitter rather than the swing for the fences guy he was in the minors, and everybody else needs to just be respectable enough to stay in the lineup.

I don't think it's asking too much of our players to do these things. We're not asking this offense to be league average this year. Just not the worst offense in Marlins history like last season. This pitching staff should be able to carry us to a few wins this season (I believe in Fernandez/Eovaldi/Alvarez/Koehler with Heaney eventually joining that group).

[Bobbob1313]

Ozuna being a contact hitter would be awful for everyone involved.

[dim]

I swear we all loved him when he was pretending to be a contact hitter when he first got called up. I think he hurts the team as a free swinger. Obviously you want to see him utilize his power, but not at the expense of getting on base.

[Erick]

We have an offense full of platoon hitters playing every day. If you look at the every day lineup, every single hitter with the exception of Stanton is a platoon hitter. Mcgehee is probably an exception as well only because he's equally mediocre against both lefties and righties.

[Bobbob1313]

I swear we all loved him when he was pretending to be a contact hitter when he first got called up. I think he hurts the team as a free swinger. Obviously you want to see him utilize his power, but not at the expense of getting on base.

We all loved him when he had a .420 BABIP in May. He was also striking out in 20% of his PAs and never walking or hitting for power.

If Ozuna isn't hitting for power, he's going to be entirely worthless.

[Erick]

I swear we all loved him when he was pretending to be a contact hitter when he first got called up. I think he hurts the team as a free swinger. Obviously you want to see him utilize his power, but not at the expense of getting on base.

Ozuna has never been a contact hitter. He's also always been a free-swinger. People liked him because high .BABIP's are fun.

He's proven so far to be a guy who rakes lefties. Against righties, he often looks foolish because he's constantly chasing sliders in the dirt, etc.

Ozuna's plate discipline has always been terrible.

[dim]

Very good point. The BABIP shows his current approach isn't sustainable, but one can dream.
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I also said at the beginning of the season that most of the players we have on our team should be platooning. So many guys are platoon oriented players. A guy like Jones shouldn't be playing everyday right now, and Dietrich should be getting playing time often. I'd be excited for us to become the platoon team.

[Nick]

He topped a .700 OPS once in the minors, and he was still a solidly below-average hitter for his league. He's just very bad at hitting baseballs.

He had a .822 OPS in 606 PAs at AAA. A very hitter-friendly league, yes, but for a shortstop prospect in his early 20s that's pretty good.

[Bobbob1313]

Yes, and if he manages to hit .330 while striking out in 1/5 of his at-bats, he will probably be useful, so let's expect that to happen while ignoring literally all other available evidence.

This team should be actively looking for replacements for Hech. He's the organization's biggest long-term weakness.

[Mainge]

Yes, and if he manages to hit .330 while striking out in 1/5 of his at-bats, he will probably be useful, so let's expect that to happen while ignoring literally all other available evidence.

This team should be actively looking for replacements for Hech. He's the organization's biggest long-term weakness.

Agreed.

[Bobbob1313]

Middle infield in general is really the one place they don't have any viable long-term options. It's really bad.
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Catcher isn't great, but they can probably find a guy to hit LHP to platoon with Salty if they ever stop this Jeff Mathis thing.