Florida Marlins Struggle to Execute Fundamentals

The Florida Marlins are having a good season overall when one evaluates the team, and we all know about the young talent this organization has displayed in recent years.

With that said, this Marlins baseball team  is not fundamentally sound.

They often have a hard time of playing fundamental baseball whether it's hitting, pitching, defense, or baserunning.

This issue has to be addressed, and team play has to get better after the All-Star break if the Marlins want to be taken seriously as a NL East contender. These mishaps are constantly costing the Marlins games they could have won. 

Last night's Marlins-Giants game was a good example of lack of baseball smarts from the Marlins. Why was Emilio Bonifacio running before the Giants' Andres Torres caught the ball?

It's common knowledge a player starts tagging when an outfielder catches the ball. The idea of him moving to second was fine, but not knowing when to run before a fielder catching the ball is inexcusable.

Bonifacio was better off just staying at first after that gaffe, but he compounded the problem by going to second after going back to first, which made Torres' job easy to get him out at second. Why go to second again when he never had a chance in being safe?

The Marlins had an opportunity to tie the game after the Giants took a 1-0 lead, and it's unacceptable to start making baserunning mistakes in a tight game.

The Giants were able to retire the Marlins and exit the inning—and the last thing a baseball team needs to do is aid the other team in getting an out. The Giants followed with a four-run fifth inning to extend their lead to 5-0.

If it's not the baserunning issues, it's something else. In baseball, experts talk about how defense is vital to a baseball team and often in the difference between wins and losses.

The Marlins' issues on defense has continue to be an issue. They are third in the National League and fifth in the majors for most errors at 60 with the Diamondbacks leading the majors with 75. When a team is in in the top five in the majors for errors, odds are that team likely won't make the playoffs.

Their situational hitting is another area of weakness that is plaguing the Marlins. How is it this team can't seem to move baserunners up? Most of the time, the players are stranded on base to end the inning.

The Marlins' at-bats leave a lot to be desired. They hack at too many pitches that are not even close to the strike zone, and too often, they are retired quickly instead of forcing the other pitcher to labor out on the mound by throwing many pitches in the inning.

As great as Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco are, the rest of the Marlins starters are shaky at best. These starters are not doling out quality starts, and most fall behind the count too often.

It would be nice if those guys would step up and throw some strikes when they're in jams instead of giving in to hitters. Last night, Sean West was nibbling with his pitches with the bases loaded, and he threw a bad pitch to Pablo Sandoval, which resulted in a grand slam.

The relievers have to go out on the mound and pitch well when they are called in to do a job. They can't make the situation worse by walking batters and then giving up runs.

It's one thing to have plenty of talent on the team, but it means nothing if the players can't play properly. Making unacceptable mistakes at this level is inexcusable.

Maybe pitching and hitting is not as easy as it looks, but it shouldn't be this hard to catch a ball or advance a runner.

It's not pretty to watch a team play bad baseball game after game. Baseball should be about players displaying their talent on offense and defense.

The Marlins have not performed well and they've become frustrating to watch at times.

They are going to have to figure it out and improve after the All-Star break.