Mike Jacobs Day to Day
Mike Jacobs left during an at bat in the 6th inning yesterday against the Brewers with a sprained right middle finger. The finger had been bothering Jacobs for some time, and it was aggravated in last night’s at bat.
“My finger has been bothering me, and sometimes, I take some swings and it just kind of catches,” said Jacobs. “It’s one of those things where it kind of goes numb after that. It’s hard to explain. It’s something that catches real fast, hurts real bad, and then once I came back in here, I am fine.”
Yet, precautionary x-rays came back negative. With a lefty on the mound today in Manny Parra, it was likely that Jacobs was going to get the day off. No immediate plans to call up a player are expected at this time.
Injuries Offer More Optimism for Marlins
When Josh Johnson went down and under the knife with Tommy John surgery, the Marlins were most obviously losing out on a valuable prospect. He had finished the 2006 season with 24 games started, 157 innings pitched, and a 12-7 record. He definitely was maturing as a pitcher and ready to take a step forward in 2007.
But the Marlins suffered another major blow in 2007 - they lost another Rookie of the Year candidate in Anibal Sanchez to shoulder surgery. Winning 10 of the 17 games he started - throwing a no-hitter along the way - the Marlins had placed great expectations on the young Venezuelan right hander.
Both are likely to be returning this season. How big of a lift would that be for this team, which is currently 14-9 and in first place?
He sports a goatee and whip-like hair, but that isn’t the only thing that distinguished Sergio Mitre on this young Marlins staff: his high ERA helps. But Mitre has proven himself to be a solid middle of the rotation pitcher at times and has helped the Marlins lineup wins. He was 5-8 last season in 27 starts and 149IP, sometimes not getting the run support he needed when he did pitch well. Yet he made some strides, he was able to increase his strikeout ratio and decrease his walk/strikeout ratio as well once he became a regular starter. And it looks like he will return in June. Mitre, placed on the 60 day DL on April 18th because of a right forearm strain, has been resting his arm on a no-throw diet.
Getting these pitchers back only supplements the Marlins pitching staff and will help push them further along towards possibly shocking baseball - again.
They stand to get Mitre back in June and Sanchez, possibly, not far behind him. Then Josh Johnson is looking for a September return. Add these three to the possibility of a Chris Volstad callup and the Marlins are sitting very snuggly at the table with the other contenders in the bigs.
Olsen Leads Marlins to Victory
Scott Olsen is grown up? The same guy who was in as much drama last season as an afternoon glimpse of Telemundo? Well, it seems to be the case.
We all know Scotty O has big time talent. The lefty has shown us his abilities before. But now, Olsen has strung together a pretty good stretch of starting pitching, which is helping give the Marlins bullpen some needed rest and stability.
Friday night Scott Olsen goes 7 1/3 innings pitched, of what would become a 10 inning shutout, on his way to helping his team win their 14th game of the season. He is 3-0 right now, but also lowered his ERA to 2.06. Opponents are batting just .187 against him.
Can you say staff ace?
The scary thing is he didn’t have his best stuff. He walked 5 batters and of his 99 pitches, 54 where for strikes. Yet Olsen attributes a big part of his success so far this season is working at a quicker pace on the mound. It must be working; it might be helping him stay more focused. Whatever it is, Scott Olsen is growing up and turning into that front line pitcher the Marlins envisioned him to be.
Unproven Marlins Smack Braves in the Mouth
Unproven?
Hanley Ramirez is probably the best hitting shortstop in the game today, hitting .292 with 17 home runs as a rookie and pushing it to 29 home runs last season with a .332 average. And now?
Dan Uggla has shown himself to be one of the most powerful bats at his position, logging over 25 home runs for two straight seasons. His bat is starting to heat up again this season.
Yet both are unproven.
Josh Willingham has steadily had an OPS over .850 these past two seasons. He has always shown himself to be a patient hitter, but his offense hasn’t translated into a .300 batting average. Right now he is showing that.
And according to the Braves, he is unproven.
Mike Jacobs, Jorge Cantu - if they are unproven, then that should be a compliment. Because they are actually working on proving themselves to be much better hitters than they have shown in the recent past. For Jacobs, it is about hitting better in situations and manufacturing runs. Cantu just has to show his 2005 season was not a fluke.
As with the rest of the Marlins, they are all, collectively, showing signs of massive improvement. So, if they are unproven, then perhaps that could be construed as a good thing as the Braves found out just how unproven the Marlins offense is - to a tune to a 7-2 rout.
The Marlins jumped out with 3 early runs in the first inning - a home run from Hanley Ramirez and another from Mike Jacobs. Both have 7 on the season.
This Marlin offense has proven something after 21 games - they are confident and they are not just about the longball. They are starting to generate runs the old fashioned way, too.
The Braves, in their arrogance, represent what the rest of the baseball media has become - a bunch of money chasing prognosticators. Gone are the days when the talking heads would actually talk about baseball skill, instead they focus on who spends the most money. As if that were a testament to worth. Check 2003 when the lowly Florida Marlins shocked the world - except for this fan - and won the World Series.
Funny thing is, I picked this team to grab 87-90 wins this season. After 21, they are well on the pace.
Marlins Still Get No Love From ESPN
I bet you won’t see that on ESPN.
Marlins win tonight 10-4 against the Pirates. They are fighting for sole possession of 1st place right now in the NL East over the Mets. And they are doing it with sexy offense.
Also, who would have thought Mark Hendrickson would be 4-1 right now? Well, he is. And the Marlins are off to a pretty good start - the likes of which none of the pundits foresaw.
Still, it won’t be on ESPN. Why? The Marlins are playing the Pirates. That and the Marlins are the Marlins - and no one even knows they still have a team except us here in South Florida.
Hanley Ramirez hit his 6th home run tonight and is pushing himself to be considered one of the best in the game. Dan Uggla has come around and is starting to hit the ball. Josh Willingham is quietly putting together a pretty good resume for a LF in the NL offensively. Jorge Cantu’s bat speed is there and he is hitting over .300. There are a ton of reasons to watch this team - none less than the amazing fact that they Marlins are competing despite their $21M payroll.
And still you won’t see it on ESPN.
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