Bleacher Report - Articles by Andres Vigil

Marlins Roll in DC

Andres Vigil — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:01:21 -0400

Can this man slow down the hot Marlins? (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, pool)

Five days after writing an article about the first place Marlins, the fish still sit atop the NL East. The Marlins finished off their first road series by bringing the brooms out and sweeping the Washington Nationals. Can this team actually compete this year, or is this hot start more due to the sub par opponents they've played?

The Marlins starting pitching is beginning to show up and the team is clicking on all cylinders. After scoring 10 runs in their first two games in the nation's capital, they won by scoring four runs and winning a pitcher's duel to finish the sweep.

Within two hours the Marlins will be facing their biggest competition on the mound since they tried to hit against Johan Santana, Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros. At 8pm (eastern) the fish start a three-game set in Houston, which currently sits in last place in the NL with 3 wins (tied with Washington). As a team the Astros have not played well, but don't let that fool you, because on any given day/night Roy Oswalt can completely shut you down.

I think this three-game series will be a test for the young Marlins because they will be sending out a struggling starter and two pitchers who'll be making their first start this year. Ricky Nolasco will be pitching tonight, followed by a struggling Andrew Miller, and double-A call up Burke Badenhop on Sunday. Our bats may need to stay hot in order to bail out the back end of our starting rotation. The way I see it, if the Marlins can leave Houston taking two out of three, we may be on to something.

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Marlins Drop Rubber Game to the Mets

Andres Vigil — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:27:38 -0400

I can't say I'm surprised.

We who live in Miami are beginning to get used to the fact that our teams are good at one thing—losing.

The Marlins were playing the Mets, who were being led on the mound by Oliver Perez.

Andew Miller, prize prospect involved in the Cabrera trade, made his first start in a Marlins uniform. The one thing I can say about his performance was that it was brief. Miller went four innings, giving up eight hits and five runs.

The Mets jumped on him in the second, third, and fifth innings. Miller definitely made some good pitches, especially with six strikeouts, but just couldn't get his off-speed pitches under control.

The big blow given up by Miller was a two-run homerun off the bat of Ryan Church.

Although Miller pitched poorly, there are no words for how bad the bullpen pitched.

After the pen pitched magnificently in the first two games, they definitely didn't show up today. Lee Gardner, Taylor Tankersley, and Kevin Gregg gave up a total of eight runs and eight hits in just three innings.

But as bad as the bullpen pitched, the blame needs to be put on the starting pitching. Not one starter in the first three games has pitched into the sixth inning. Plain and simple, you can't have your bullpen pitch five innings every game.

The final result was a 13-0 thumping by the Mets. Luckily for the Marlins there are still another 159 games left and they are only going to get better.

Come visit South Florida's Sports Blog for more Marlins, and Miami sports information.

MLB Preview 2008: Florida Marlins Lineup

Andres Vigil — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:55:29 -0400

After reviewing the pitching for the upcoming season in Part 1, I will be going over the team's lineup and defense on the field. Will the Marlins improve on the field after pacing the league in errors last year? How will that lineup hold up? Here are the rest of the answers you've been waiting for.

Starting Lineup:

Hanley Ramirez, SS - Is there anything I really need to say about him? He probably should've won the NL MVP last year and should win a few before he hangs them up. The most feared shortstop in the game since A-Rod moved over to Third Base. Ramirez has 40/40 potential later on down his career, and I do fully expect him to achieve 30/30 this year.
Dan Uggla, 2B - The best power hitting second basemen next to Chase Utley. He had 31 homers last year and may add on that this year. Will need to work on making more contact this year, although I still think hes destined for high strikeout numbers. Will definitely be affected adversely by the loss of Miguel Cabrera and will probably end up dropping down in the lineup as the season rolls along.
Jeremy Hermida, RF - Will start the year on the DL (I know, I'm shocked too) but should be back by the 2nd week, and this is why I have included him as being in the starting lineup. The sky is still the limit for him as he is still 24. Ended the year ON FIRE last year and will hope to continue to pick up on this note. If he stays away from injuries, he could be the next Hanley, minus the speed.
Josh Willingham, LF - Like Jeremy, Willingham needs to stay focused on staying off the DL. If he stays healthy there's no doubt he can produce in the 4-hole, as he has hit at every level hes been at (including the majors). One of the older young guys on this team, he will need to take a leadership role and guide the younger guys, by showing them how to get it done on the field.
Mike Jacobs, 1B - Another Marlin player that needs to stay healthy (yes, I know thats like the 100th guy), because if he does we may see why he was traded for Delgado straight up. Jacobs can hit 'em out of the park and there's no denying that, but can he eliminate that hole in his swing that he's been working on with Jim Presley? I think this can be Jacobs' break out year, but if he doesn't break out, look for the Fish to move on at 1B after this year.
Jorge Cantu, 3B - WOW, where did this come from. No doubt the biggest surprise in camp, as there usually is one. Cantu did nothing but hit in spring training and hit himself onto this team. Jorge isn't a .300 hitter for the season, but he can get you 25 hr and 85 rbi, and alleviate that loss at 3B in Cabrera. Let's hope he has reverted back to his 2005 self and is not merely a flash in the pan.
Cody Ross, CF - I see the Alejandro de Aza injury as a blessing in disguise. Why hasn't Cody Ross been allowed to play a whole season, it sure looks like he can hit after hitting way over .300 (.335) last year. If Fredi can only hold off on the temptation to run Alfredo out there against the right handed pitchers we can finally see if Cody is a full time player or a pinch hitter against left handed pitchers. My money is on the fact that he can hit against righties as well as lefties.
Matt Treanor, C - At age 32, this can be Treanor's time to shine. With Mike Rabelo starting on the DL, I think Treanor is going to show us that he can handle the stick well enough to be starting in majors (.265). Not only will he hit a little, just know that he had a 4.66 cera (Cather's Earned Run Average) a half a point lower than Miguel Olivo's last year catching the same pitchers. That stat to me alone is worth starting him for a full season and seeing if he can handle a pitching staff.

Bench:

Alfredo Amezaga, UTIL - How did the Angel's let him go? Yes he's not the best hitter, but he played at every position except for catcher and pitcher last year. Amezaga is scrappy enough to get a few hits, and fast enough to get 20 sb playing part time. He'll get some time at center field while de Aza is on the mend.
Luis Gonzalez, Corner OF - A nice offseason pick up by the Marlins and will pay off immediately as he is the opening day starter at RF. Gonzalez, although already 40 years of age can still handle the bat and will play a similar role to Aarone Boone and Wes Helmes in the last couple years. He'll get some playing time because Willingham, Hermida, and Jacobs are bound to get hurt (sorry I jinxed us).
Robert Andino, SS - This may be Andino's lucky year as he might have the opportunity to showcase his skills to other teams. With de Aza out for a month or two, he'll probably start a few games to relieve Uggla and Hanley. The question with Andino has always been can he hit, well if he hits a bit look for him to be traded as he's being blocked by Uggla and Hanley in the majors.
Jason Wood, INF - The feel good story of last year, as this 37 year old rookie made a MLB team for the first time ever out of spring training. He can play all the positions in the IF if need be, but is most comfortable at the corners. Had a knack for picking up clutch hits last year.
Mike Rabelo, C - The biggest variable on this team in terms of a fielder, and we're going to have to wait a few more weeks to find out what Rabelo can do. The Marlins feel he may be a able to start 100 or more games at catcher, but all other information outlets tab him as a backup. A switch hitting catcher is always a good thing to have, but you still have to be able to hit the ball. We shall see what the future holds for Rabelo.

Defensive Notes:

Look for the Marlins to get marginally better in the field as this is all they've heard from their coaches this spring. They didn't make any personal changes to improve on their defensive woes of last year (leading the MLB in errors), but they did release Olivo, and Treanor has to be better than him. It seemed like when trading Cabrera that they would at least upgrade defensively at third, but who really knows with Cantu as he is a natural second basemen. I would've loved to see Uggla moved to third base, but I'm not the coach or GM, just a sports blogger. Just have your water with alka-seltzer ready as this season doesn't look much brighter defensively.

Come visit South Florida's Sports Blog for more Marlins, and Miami sports information.

MLB Preview 2008: Florida Marlins Pitching

Andres Vigil — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:50:20 -0400

What does the summer ahead hold for the young Fish? Will the unestablished starting pitchers settle in and have a good year? Will the lineup sink or swim without Miguel Cabrera? Will the bullpen replicate the season they had last year or revert back to the 2006 bullpen? All these questions answered and more, NEXT!!!!!!!

Starting Rotation:

Veteran Mark Hendrickson will anchor the Marlins' starting rotation. Hendrickson is a "starting pitcher" who has only once thrown over 180 innings and started over 30 games. He is more suited in my opinion as a reliever, but had a big spring and will hopefully prove me wrong and be a durable starter at the top of our rotation.
Scott Olsen will start the year as the number four starter (due to injuries), but will be more of a number one or two. Olsen will need to come in to his own this year. This will be his third full year in the majors, and in order to stick around Olsen will need to avoid repeating his disappointing season of last year.

The third starter will be Rick Vanden Hurk the 2nd year player from the Netherlands. Last year he was known more because of what country he was born in than how he pitched. This year he hopes to control his breaking ball, which is a plus pitch, and attack the zone early in order to get ahead. The next starter, Andrew Miller, is interesting because he may end up in AAA before the season is over, or he may end up being the most dominant pitcher in the rotation. There's no doubt Miller has some nasty stuff, possessing two plus pitches (Fastball and Slider), but will his control issue come back to nip him in the butt this year. Ricky Nolasco will more than likely be our 5th starter, but will start the season in the pen because of a couple early off days. I see Nolasco as a back end bullpen pitcher, as well as most people. He is a starter more out of necessity, as the Marlins continue to have problems keeping their pitchers healthy. Look for Nolasco to transition into the pen if and when we get back Mitre, Sanchez, and Josh Johnson back from the DL.

Relief Pitching:

Coming into the 2008 season the Marlins bullpen is only rivaled to that of the Cleveland Indians. The Marlins return all seven of their relievers who closed out the year in '07. Lee Gardner comes back as the long relief/middle relief pitcher. Gardner in consecutive seasons now has posted a 0 era in spring training and was the most versatile Marlins bullpen member last year. Joining the relief corp are two lefties with some really good stuff, Taylor Tankersley and Renyel Pinto. Tankersley, a harder thrower has a good fastball and a plus slider (his out pitch), and has been mentioned as a possible closer in the future. Pinto, a converted starter, may have one of the best change ups in the game. His main problem is location, location, location. When Pinto is on he is the best pitcher in the pen, but when he's off he may be the most frustrating pitcher to watch in the majors.

The Fish will be counting on a 2006 repeat performance from Logan Kensing. Kensing was out nearly all of last year due to Tommy John surgery and will now be back healthy in 2008. In 2006 he was used as a setup man and closer and succeeded in both, at times. He will need to show some consistency, which I believe he can. The back end of the bullpen will begin with these two righties, Justin Miller and Matt Lindstrom. Miller came out of no where last year and became quite possibly the best reliever on the Marlins. At one point Miller had gone 15 1/3 innings in a row without giving up a run. Lindstrom, on the other hand, was traded for last year along with Henry Owens for Jason Vargas. The more I see of Lindstrom and Owens (currently rehabbing), the more I think we need to give some more back to the Mets. Lindstrom reached 99mph a few times and accompanies that ridiculous fastball with an average change/split and slider. He will need to develop his second and third pitches to continue being successful at this level.

Another feel good story in the pen came after many a blown save by Jorge Julio, and Armando Benitez, Kevin Gregg. Gregg came out of no where to take over the closer role after being passed up over and over by Fredi Gonzalez. Finally, Fredi got it right and Gregg went on to be the 4th Marlins closer in a row to save over 30 games after being on a different team the year before (Benitez, Jones, Borowski). The question about Gregg now is whether he will finish the season with the club. With Lindstrom, Owens, Kensing and Tankersley all possible closer options, why wouldn't the Fish dangle Gregg out there for some more prospects.

Come visit South Florida's Sports Blog for more Marlins, and Miami sports information.