Miami Marlins: Lack of Offense a Concern After Just 2 Games?

Yes, Miami Marlins fans, it's early. There are 160 games left to go in the 2012 season. (I can hear everyone pounding their desks and yelling "Small sample size! Small sample size!" at their monitors.)

But with just one run in its first two games, should Miami be worried about their lack of offense?

Perhaps the Marlins have just had the misfortune of facing two pitchers performing at a peak level to open the season. Both the St. Louis Cardinals' Kyle Lohse and the Cincinnati Reds' Johnny Cueto are coming off fine seasons and are among the top arms on their teams' respective pitching staffs.

But Lohse and Cueto may have looked even better against a Miami lineup that isn't providing much opposition right now. One run and seven hits in two games is no way to get through a major-league season, son. 

(And as FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal pointed out on Twitter, the Marlins even had trouble scoring runs during spring training.) 

For all the attention the Marlins received in the offseason for their flashy signings of Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle, the team missed on its attempt to get a big bat like Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder—and now it's beginning to become apparent why general manager Larry Beinfest and owner Jeffrey Loria pursued such players. The middle of the lineup lacks a consistent, proven threat. 

The good news is that Reyes is giving the Marlins what they paid for so far, batting 3-for 8 (.375) at the top of the batting order. But the run producers aren't providing any thunder. Giancarlo Stanton and Hanley Ramirez are each 0-for-8 after two games. Gaby Sanchez is 1-for-6. 

To be fair, however, the Marlins might be the victims of some bad circumstances.

Stanton was robbed of two home runs in Wednesday night's season opener by the vast Marlins Park outfield. And on Thursday, Logan Morrison was out of the lineup. But that was a move the Marlins already had planned, as reported by the Sun-Sentinel's Juan C. Rodriguez. Early in the season, the team wants Morrison to take it slow with his surgically repaired right knee.

The early schedule hasn't done the Marlins many favors, either. A one-game appearance on Wednesday night to open a new ballpark, followed by a Thursday day game in Cincinnati, is an itinerary that would wear down any major-league team. 

Manager Ozzie Guillen has a regular postgame routine that might be helping him cope with the situation.

"I go to the hotel bar, get drunk, sleep," Guillen told CBSSports.com's C. Trent Rosecrans. "I don't do anything else."

That's probably not the ideal postgame routine for his players, however. 

With an off-day Friday, maybe the Marlins will get the breather they needed and come back fresh for the second game of their series with the Reds on Saturday. Wednesday was surely a frenzy with all the hullaballoo surrounding the opening of Marlins Park, and almost before they could recover, it was off to the Queen City. 

Of course, it should be repeated: It's early. Very early. Small sample size. Plenty of more baseball to be played. Lesser pitching is out there to be faced. All that stuff needs to be considered.

But in my opinion, the Marlins players should undergo eye exams. Staring at the lime-green interior of Marlins Park—for a prolonged basis, it could have an adverse effect on anyone's eyesight. They may still be blinded by the lime.