Come To Think Of It: Young Florida Marlins Are Swimming in Uncharted Waters

Oh sure, it's very early in the season. But you have to be impressed by what the Florida Marlins have accomplished thus far in the 2009 season.

At 7-1, they sit atop an NL East division that could turn out to be the best division in the National League, if not all of baseball.

The Atlanta Braves brought in pitching help and have a promising young centerfielder in Jordan Schafer.

The New York Mets also have a talented team that has just fallen short two years in a row and added strength to its bullpen, which was a sore heel last season.

And, of course, all the Philadelphia Phillies did was win the World Series last year.

But, few, if any, of the baseball pundits picked the Fish to be any good this year. While there's still time for the Marlins to go into the tank (fish tank?), so far, so good.

Dan Uggla has been on fire of late, driving in six runs over the past two games.

Jorge Cantu is hitting .368. and all-world shortstop Hanley Ramirez is at .333.

But perhaps the biggest story, at least offensively, for the Marlins thus far has been the play of leadoff man Emilio Bonifacio.

Hitting .485, he has stolen four bases and scored 11 runs. He had a multi-hit game in the team's first five games.

Bonifacio is just 23 years old and is with his third organization since the end of last season. His inside-the-park home run on opening day was an electrifying moment. It was also the first homer of his career.

It took the speedy Bonifacio just 14.5 seconds to get around the bases.

The Marlins run differential of +21 is surpassed only by Toronto, +22, and tied with St. Louis.

But above all, the Marlins have had plenty of pitching. A pair of really tall right-handers are leading the way.

At 6'7", NL Player of the Week Josh Johnson has allowed just one run in two starts this season. 6'8" Chris Volstad has allowed just two earned runs in his two starts. Both are 2-0 so far.

While last year's staff leader Ricky Nolasco has been hit hard and has the only loss for the fish, Anibal Sanchez pitched five shutout innings in his first start.

At an average age of 24.5 years old, the Marlins are the youngest team in the National League.

So don't tell them that they aren't supposed to be winning. They just don't know any better.

They certainly have the look of winners to me, come to think of it.