Why Ricky Nolasco Gets It Now

Ricky Nolasco had a breakout season last year when he went 15-8 with a 3.52 ERA, and he was in the top five for most victories in the National League. It was good enough for him to be the team's Opening Day starter this season.

Much was expected out of him this season after the success he had last year, but it did not work out that way at least from the start.

Nolasco struggled to start the season to the point he was demoted to the minors at New Orleans to get his control and command together. Since then, he has become a better pitcher as a result of his demotion.

Nolasco continued his good performance last night when he gave up two unearned runs, and it was good enough for him to earn a 5-2 victory over the Orioles at Land Shark Stadium, which put the Marlins in a position to be above .500 (37-36) for the first time since May 12th not to mention extending their winning streak to four games.

Nolasco was cruising for the first two hours of the game, and he retired eight Orioles in a row at one point. He did a good job of using his curveball, cutter, slider, and changeup, which helped him get ahead of the hitters and getting his outs.

He gave up couple of hits to start the game, but he was able to get out of it by getting the hitters to ground out.

It took him awhile for him to figure it out. With young starters, they are going to go through their ups and downs during the course of the season, and sometimes it's hard to predict what they are going to do, and that may have been the case with Nolasco here.

The Marlins are fortunate he figured it out because when young starters struggle, it takes them a year or two to get back on track in terms of their confidence and their stuff.

Nolasco's turnaround started at Toronto couple of weeks ago when he gave up two runs on five hits with nine strikeouts in a no-decision against the Blue Jays. Then, he created a momentum from that start by pitching well against a great hitting team in the Red Sox at Fenway Park on a rainy night.

Nolasco's success is based on him going through a stretch which he is retiring several batters in a row, and not having that big inning that has plagued him earlier in the season. This is what he has to keep doing.

An example of a very good baseball team is when a team features two starters that are aces on the pitching staff. The Marlins have that in Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco.

This is why the Marlins have a chance to win the NL East. The teams in that division don't have the duo of starters that can complement each other like the Marlins have.

For Nolasco, it's a matter of trusting his stuff and pinpointing his control. If he can keep doing that, he should match the same number of wins that he had last season.

The Marlins are banking on him to keep this up all the way till October.