Twitter Updates for 2009-05-25
- Jamie Moyer, who owns the Marlins, is pitching for the Phillies. It just gets tougher for the Fish. #
- Well, Helms got ripped off on that call. I am sorry, but he ain’t that slow. And Rollins’ arm isn’t that strong. #
- Nice – Rollins gets thrown out on a crazy 3 to 1 to 2 to 6 out at second base. #
- Marlins sporting the red hats by the way for Memorial Day. First pink bats, and now red hats. #
- Volstad issues his first walk and Howard makes him pay. 2-0 Pharts. #
- When you play in a tee ball field, expect to get teed off of. #
- Marlins bats stay cold against Moyer after 2. Makes you wonder if they even packed them at all. #
- 3-2 Marlins are up on the Phillies. If I don’t watch, they win…hmm… #
- Paulino gets a nice pitch to hit – and he does! Knocks in Helms to take a 4-2 lead. #
- Volstad almost helped his cause right there but Victorino, the Marlin killer, squeezed the ball in a diving catch. #
- @camdoug1 I think he should get more ABs in general. in reply to camdoug1 #
- My bad. I started watching the game again – we get a run, but we give up another run to Ryan “Big Tater” Howard. #
- @camdoug1 Don’t forget his “improved” defense, too. in reply to camdoug1 #
- Helms gets his 4th RBI on the night, putting the Marlins up 2 – 5-3, Fish. #
- Paulino probably didn’t foul tip that pitch, but why is Charlie Manuel allowed to grand stand out there? #
- And Paulino takes advantage by being courteous enough to strike out. Keeps the heat off the umpire. #
- THutt openly questioning Fredi’s moves…interesting. #
- Leo Nunez, despite Fredi’s questionable move, gets a 1,2,3 inning. Fish come up to hit with a 5-3 lead after 8. #
- Coghlan looks like he is starting to turn the corner a bit. He is hitting leadoff with two productive nights. I’ll say it again – Kotsay #
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Citrus Series Proves Sour for Marlins
The Rays came to town and leftquite an impression – blowing out the Marlins in the first two games of the series and rallying back in the final game yesterday to nearly sweep their cross-state rivals. Things are getting tougher these days for the Fish who keep battling anyway.
Yesterday’s 5-4 win in the 11th inning of a Ross Gload slapshot to right field gave the Marlins temporary relief in a series where they just looked overmatched. Take Carl Crawford, for example – in the top of the ninth inning he stole 2B on the first pitch to the hitter after him. The Marlins knew he would and even called for a pitchout – and Crawford still beat the throw.
The Rays scored runs – the Marlins did not. The Rays pitched better and fielded better. Up to this point in the season, the Marlins had been in pretty much every game and hadn’t been blown out. Well, now they have seen that happen twice and to their credit, they fought back and held on long enough to squeeze a win out yesterday.
If this is a sign of things to come, then the Marlins are quickly going in the other direction. The fact that they have now only gone 9-25 since their 11-1 start should send a front office into panic mode. This has yet to happen.
You have to wonder if anything will. The Marlins are going to square off against another rival – the Philadelphia Phillies. Incidentally, the team that beat the Rays in the World Series last year. A great opportunity to really evaluate where the Marlins are heading this season.
Twitter Updates for 2009-05-24
- Since their 11-1 start, the Marlins have gone 8-24. Not a good sign for a team that was looking to take another step this year. #
- @JCRMarlinsbeat They should. Really, Presley should – the offense has been horrible under his watch. Lots of K’s, little contact. in reply to JCRMarlinsbeat #
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Twitter Updates for 2009-05-23
- Nolasco sent down and West called up. The future has arrived. #
- West looks poised out there. A quick 3rd inning. #
- @JROstermayer I feel your pain. This team needs to improve its defense and maybe the pitching can come along. A win tonight would be nice. in reply to JROstermayer #
- My uncontrollable cough is making me delusional but West has a nice cut up there. #
- Bonifacio’s defense is highly overrated, but his offense does seem to be coming around. #
- Boni got a good jump and beat out a decent throw. #
- Bonifacio has a 5 game hitting streak going right now – he’s 1-2 today. #
- Hermida strikes out. He is now 0-2 today and his OBP just dropped. Incidentally, it is the highest on the team. #
- West in a bit of a spot here. 2 me on, 2 outs. Needs a grounder to end the inning. 3-1 count on Kapler, MLB’s resident muscle man. #
- Kapler was going up there to walk. Ball on the outside corner and he didn’t even nibble. Bases loaded. #
- West’s control is a little off. Paulino needs to calm him down a bit. Surprised Paulino is his catcher tonight – thought it would be Bake. #
- 3-0 count. Going to walk in a run. Looks like he is now rattled and trying to aim pitches to the plate. #
- Wiley out to talk to him. Loosen him up a bit, cut a fart joke or something – that may get his mind out of the funk he’s in. #
- @camdoug1 I’ll go with 9 – 6 record. 3.50 ERA. The kid has the stuff to be a stud though. in reply to camdoug1 #
- Came back on got a K to end the inning. West needed that – even if it was Niemann. Let’s see if he can come back out and get a quiet inning. #
- Tallest matchup in history is Randy Johnson 6′10″ and Daniel Cabrera 6′9″ on May 11 2009. #
- Now the other Upton brother hurts us – great catch out in CF on a ball driven deep by Hanley. #
- Cantu, the ex-Ray, is up now. Wouldn’t mind seeing a home run here. #
- His Name is Dan Uggla!! Ties it up with his 8th home run – a monster meatball off the foul pole! #
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Sean West Offers Something Marlins Need
Sean West is going to make his debut start today against the suddenly unstoppable Rays but he will offer the Marlins something they need more of – pitching that can generate outs without relying on defense.
Basically, he can strike out hitters.
At 6′8″ with a mid 90’s fastball, West has been seen as a big part of the Marlins future. Currently at AA Jacksonville he has shown that he can strike out hitters amassing 50 Ks in only 42.2 innings. He has 22 walks issued against 44 hits making his WHIP 1.55. It would probably be best to regard him as effectively wild at this point but with naturally great stuff he will have a chance to calm down the Rays bats. See his player profile here.
For the Marlins, a big problem has been their defense. They are currently ranked fifth in the league with the most errors (33), are ranked 26th in the league in fielding percentage (.979) but are fifth in terms of total chances (1573) of getting outs. Their low field goal percentage has attributed to their mounting losses. Perhaps West will give some relief to exposing the Marlins’ below average defense.
The Marlins game is scheduled to start at 7:10pm tonight and West will square off against Niemann who is 4-3 on the year.

