Train Keeps Rollin' With 8-2 Win

[Bobbob1313]

Hechavarria all over your faces.

[HUGG]

His 4 hit game has stunned the board into silence

[AdamRavs]

The Stanton bomb was cool too. He hit that and you just knew it was gone.

Koehler looks like he will be useful as well.

[HUGG]

2014 though 5 games: 4 wins, 35 runs
2013 through 17 games: 4 wins, 35 runs

[Bobbob1313]

Koehler's gonna need to pitch a lot better than he did tonight.

[Mainge]

He looked pretty bad

[Big Z]

Scoring runs is fun. We are number 1 in runs scored and batting average, as well as number 2 in OBP in the MLB.

Stanton is a beast.

Also, our bullpen>anyone's bullpen.

[BigGameFish]

Cool stat from Barry Jackson in his Buzzfeed in the Miami Herald:

"### Some historical significance of the Marlins’ win Thursday, according to Elias:
Before rallying from a 5-3 deficit to win 8-5 against Colorado, the Marlins had lost their previous 113 games when trailing by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later. The Marlins' last victory of this type came on July 4, 2012 against the Brewers. In that game, they were down by four runs in the seventh and won 7-6 in extra innings.
The only other team in the last 25 seasons (since 1990) to lose 113 consecutive games when trailing by two or more runs in the seventh or later was the Tigers, who had a 128-game streak from July 2002 to August 2003."
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And they almost did this on back-to-back nights. You can't tell me it a "statistical anomaly" or that "it's too early in the season" to say there's definitely something different going on this season.
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Hech so mystical that his BA is higher than his OBP. Master.

[Erick]

Cool stat from Barry Jackson in his Buzzfeed in the Miami Herald:

"### Some historical significance of the Marlins’ win Thursday, according to Elias:
Before rallying from a 5-3 deficit to win 8-5 against Colorado, the Marlins had lost their previous 113 games when trailing by multiple runs in the seventh inning or later. The Marlins' last victory of this type came on July 4, 2012 against the Brewers. In that game, they were down by four runs in the seventh and won 7-6 in extra innings.
The only other team in the last 25 seasons (since 1990) to lose 113 consecutive games when trailing by two or more runs in the seventh or later was the Tigers, who had a 128-game streak from July 2002 to August 2003."
--------------------
And they almost did this on back-to-back nights. You can't tell me it a "statistical anomaly" or that "it's too early in the season" to say there's definitely something different going on this season.
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Hech so mystical that his BA is higher than his OBP. Master.

Just wondering, are you expecting this team to make the playoffs?
If by "different" you mean "better than last year," I think we all agree. That says more about last year's terrible team than how good this one is going to be.

[el nino]

I feel like the reason this forum isn't very active is that there aren't many baseball fans on here. Would you guys rather root for your favorite team and watch them try to prove people wrong and make an unexpected run? Or would you rather look at numbers and wait for player performances to regress to what should be expected of them? Whenever somebody has an optimistic viewpoint, it is met, without fail, with reasons as to why whatever they said will not happen.

Everyone gets that you guys are super into advanced stats and predictor stats, and if that's what you want this forum to be about, then that's what it will be about. But the name of the site, and the setup of the site, leads people to believe that this is a place where they could talk about their favorite baseball team, not just about xFIP and BABIP and UZR.

I get it, and I'm going to school for statistics, so I understand the desire to look at and talk about everything in a strictly logical sense. But sports is supposed to be a distraction from the logical. There is a difference between telling somebody that Hech is most likely never going to be a league average hitter, even though he is hitting .579 through 5 games, and one Marlins fan telling another Marlins fan that there is no chance the Marlins can do better than .500, when the season is only 5 games in. Yes, the Marlins current offensive output is a product of players performing above expectation in a small sample size, but why not be excited, and allow others to be excited, about the prospect of sustaining some sort of unexpected performance, especially if they "see" or "feel" something special about....their favorite baseball team.

TLDR: You guys root for and discuss regression to the mean more than you root for and discuss the Miami Marlins. This is why there is no activity here.

[BigGameFish]

^ I've been saying the same thing for years on this site now. Granted, I understand there has not been much of a chance for optimism in the past handful of seasons, but all too often there is a crushing of enthusiasm by the majority on the sole basis of "look at the stats and projections and models, bro." I get it, the "stats" don't support us, but look at the Red Sox from last season, they accomplished a similar turnaround in one season. Also, don't forget that a lot of these guys who you say "are doing way better than what the stats say they should be doing" are generally very young ball players. Hech, for example, is only really in his third season. Have any of you ever hit the wall on your potential in anything in less than three years? No. These young guys will see the biggest improve at this stage of their careers.

Anyway, not to go too far off subject, and to address the post directed at me about whether I expect this team to make the playoffs: does it matter what I expect? Do you only root for a team if you expect them to make the playoffs? That's not a fan, that a front runner. How the hell do I know if they will make the playoffs? And how do you? Injuries, trades, booms, and busts happen every year and it is totally unpredictable. Especially in baseball. Now with the added wild card, I think around 80-85 wins could give you a one game shot. We would need a big improvement, but if we're competing at midseason we can make a significant trade(s) with surplus of young arms. So, do I expect it? No. Do I believe it's possible? 100% yes. The 2003 team wasn't exactly filled with all-stars. All you need is good pitching - and I think we have the best pitcher in baseball and maybe what could turn out to be the best bullpen. If Stanton stays healthy and produces 1.000+ OPS like he can, and some of the young guys continue to develop alongside the consistent veterans, I think we have an above average team all-around. You disagree?

[Mainge]

I feel like the reason this forum isn't very active is that there aren't many baseball fans on here. Would you guys rather root for your favorite team and watch them try to prove people wrong and make an unexpected run? Or would you rather look at numbers and wait for player performances to regress to what should be expected of them? Whenever somebody has an optimistic viewpoint, it is met, without fail, with reasons as to why whatever they said will not happen.

Everyone gets that you guys are super into advanced stats and predictor stats, and if that's what you want this forum to be about, then that's what it will be about. But the name of the site, and the setup of the site, leads people to believe that this is a place where they could talk about their favorite baseball team, not just about xFIP and BABIP and UZR.

I get it, and I'm going to school for statistics, so I understand the desire to look at and talk about everything in a strictly logical sense. But sports is supposed to be a distraction from the logical. There is a difference between telling somebody that Hech is most likely never going to be a league average hitter, even though he is hitting .579 through 5 games, and one Marlins fan telling another Marlins fan that there is no chance the Marlins can do better than .500, when the season is only 5 games in. Yes, the Marlins current offensive output is a product of players performing above expectation in a small sample size, but why not be excited, and allow others to be excited, about the prospect of sustaining some sort of unexpected performance, especially if they "see" or "feel" something special about....their favorite baseball team.

TLDR: You guys root for and discuss regression to the mean more than you root for and discuss the Miami Marlins. This is why there is no activity here.

I hope they go 161-1. There's nothing I'd rather have in a sports context than for them to make playoffs and for BigGameFish to shove it in my face at every turn.

Tell me why posters here should be allowed to circlejerk about how great we are but not allowed to discuss the Marlins in a rational statistical manner? Why is that frowned upon? Isn't that what a discussion board is for? Point and counter point?

I'm getting fairly tired of being told that I'm somehow a fuckface for keeping perspective and not kneejerking to 5 game sample sizes

[BigGameFish]

I think it's completely fine to discuss statistics. But sometimes some of the posters here talk about that stuff with an air of douchbag-ness as if somehow you know better because you study stats all day. Many a time they are used as a put down rather than a discussion starter. But by all means, I value them too.

Whether it continues or not, I don't really mind. I think it's healthy to hear both ends of the spectrum. There should just be more mutual respect between the warring factions,
I suppose you could say.

[Mainge]

Anyway, not to go too far off subject, and to address the post directed at me about whether I expect this team to make the playoffs: does it matter what I expect? Do you only root for a team if you expect them to make the playoffs? That's not a fan, that a front runner. How the hell do I know if they will make the playoffs? And how do you? Injuries, trades, booms, and busts happen every year and it is totally unpredictable. Especially in baseball. Now with the added wild card, I think around 80-85 wins could give you a one game shot. We would need a big improvement, but if we're competing at midseason we can make a significant trade(s) with surplus of young arms. So, do I expect it? No. Do I believe it's possible? 100% yes. The 2003 team wasn't exactly filled with all-stars. All you need is good pitching - and I think we have the best pitcher in baseball and maybe what could turn out to be the best bullpen. If Stanton stays healthy and produces 1.000+ OPS like he can, and some of the young guys continue to develop alongside the consistent veterans, I think we have an above average team all-around. You disagree?

You said there's something different about this team. He's asking you if you think they'll make playoffs because he wants to know exactly how different.

I also think there's something different about this team and that they're much improved. I also don't think there's a chance in hell they make playoffs. But I watch every game and still root for them to win. Why is that not allowed?

[Nick]

This is a message board, if we didn't have people on here with differing opinions it'd be boring as fuck.

Saying that the folks on here aren't real baseball fans, is quite a bit douchier, in my opinion, than using stats to shit on people's optimism.