Marlins get swept at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the fourth time in the Steel City (1994, 2003, 2004 the other times).

The Fish bats came alive this afternoon with 10 base hits and Wes Helms’ RBI double in the fourth snapped an 0-7 skid with runners in scoring position.

What might have been the game changer was a bad throw by Ronny Paulino in an attempt to catch Nyjer Morgan stealing third. The ball skipped past Emilio Bonifacio’s glove and into left field, scoring Morgan. Ok so Morgan gave the Bucs the lead with an RBI single before trying to swipe third, but could the Marlins have crawled back from a 5-4 deficit?

Needless to say Philadelphia comes to town this weekend with Josh Johnson facing Brett Myers Friday night. Keep in mind the Marlins had a winning record against the World Champs last season at 10-8.

Here’s what others are writing about:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/baseball/marlins/sfl-jorge-cantu-marlins-s042209,0,658965.story

He saw Dr. Lee Kaplan in South Florida today and was diagnosed with a bruise in his left wrist. He is day to day, which means he could return to the lineup as soon as Friday.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/marlins/content/sports/epaper/2009/04/21/0421_marlins_notebook.html

“One candidate could be left-hander Sean West, who is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA for Class AA Jacksonville. He allowed two hits and struck out nine batters in six innings April 15.”

The Marlins can climb above .500 all time on opening day with a win against the Washington Nationals Monday, currently sitting at 8-8 all-time. Coach Fredi Gonzalez has announced his batting order for tomorrow’s 4:05 start and might look something like this:

Lineup:
3B Emilio Bonifacio
C John Baker
SS Hanley Ramirez
1B Jorge Cantu
2B Dan Uggla
LF Jeremy Hermida
RF Cody Ross
CF Cameron Maybin
P Ricky Nolasco

What to watch:
Most of the success this season is riding on how Nolasco’s right elbow holds up. Entering his fourth season, Nolasco picked up a slider last year and resulted in a 15 win breakthrough season with 186 strikeouts. A big feat for a pitcher who missed his sophomore season due to right elbow inflammation.  His 2006 rookie campaign went over unassuming with an 11-11 record and a mediocre 4.86 ERA. So there isn’t much to predict for the ’09 season based on his past, but Nolasco thinks he can emerge as a household name.  Nolasco is ready to emerge as a top pitcher in ’09

Second is how Maybin handles centerfield and Bonifiacio at third fare. We’ve heard a lot this spring about how Maybin’s name could be a frontrunner for NL Rookie of Year. I say just prove you can play everyday Cam. The hot corner could be a weakness this season and we’ll see right off the gate as the Nats were fourth among NL teams this spring with nearly one and a half more ground outs. Also watch how Bonifiacio will handle the lead off spot…but just against rightys. “Since Bonifacio’s career average hitting right-handed is markedly worse, Gonzalez did not rule out having Cameron Maybin lead off against left-handers.”

Other defensive moves to keep an eye on is Hermida at left and Cantu at first. Cantu has handled first base before and shouldn’t be much of a concern but Hermida has looked foreign at times in left.

Other notes I have; we’ll see how many innings Nolasco goes and who takes the mound after his depature.“If you get great starting pitching and the back-end guys don’t do the job, it’s disheartening. That’s our biggest question mark right now. There’s no getting around it.”

Matt Lindstrom will be ready to pitch tomorrow if it’s a save situation On March 15, while pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, he exited a game against The Netherlands due to a right rotator cuff strain.

My guess is Leo Nunez (acquired for Mike Jacobs) will see some action tomorrow.

The Nats will send a young 24-year old to the mound in John Lannan. He had a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts before finishing with a 9-15 record. He typically keeps the ball down and was cruising for a strong spring before getting rocked in his last outing. Lannan let up seven runs in a 90-pitch outing through 4 2/3  innings Manny Acta said, “He found it very strange that John couldn’t throw any of his pitches for strikes, not even that sinker that he usually can go back to when he is struggling with the changeup and breaking ball. I told Bard that he usually has a day like that once every two months.”

So what’s everybody’s plan for opening day? How many are going and where are you sitting? If you’re not able to go how do you plan on following the action? MLB.com makes it easier than every to watch ball games online.

Any favorite Opening Day memories? Playing in South Florida has blessed us with 12 home starts to the seson. (One year we traveled up to old Olympic Stadium in Montreal to start the season). Good call on that one right?

Join us!

Talk Opening Day with us over at the forum!

Faced with a logjam in the infield, third baseman Dallas McPherson was released and first baseman Gabby Sanchez was recalled to Triple-A New Orleans. McPherson proved he belonged on a major league roster last season, leading the minors with 42 homers at Triple-A Albuquerque.  The Marlins gave him a shot to showcase his talent during the month of March in the Grapefruit League, but it appears the Marlins had no plans of keeping him in South Florida.  McPherson, who would have been paid 500,000, was competiting for a roster spot against the Southern League MVP Sanchez and newcomer Emilio Bonifacio.

Bonifacio’s speed won that three person race for a spot Tuesday, with Sanchez being optioned down to the minors. The moves mostly likely will mean Bonifacio will start at third and possibly leadoff. Jorge Cantu will switch to first base after playing third last season. Also getting a start every third day will be Wes Helms.

The Marlins active roster currently sits with 26 players. One of those players, Robert Andino is out of club options and must pass the cut in order to stay with the Fish. What do you think will happen and your thoughts/concerns on the roster moves?

Ricky Nolasco looked great on the mound today, starting the game off with six strikes. I mean they were hammered in the zone. But after getting Oriole Nick Markakis to pop up, Marlins left fielder Jeremy Hermida got turned around too many times and suddenly Markakis is sliding into second with a double. Add insult to injury, the very next batter did the same to Hermida and before you know it the O’s pull to a 2-0 lead.  And the fans let him have it. You wouldn’t believe it was a Spring Training game and the player the fans were booing was learning the position.
“We’ve been getting a lot of work in, shagging and batting practice,” Hermida explained after the game. “Just making sure I’m getting balls off the bat. But there are certain balls that you don’t get sometimes during batting practice that aren’t quite at game speed. Just a work in progress.”

Nolasco shrugged off what could have been an inning-ending pop fly and continued to pitch two more innings and run his pitch count to 54 (40 strikes). “It’s what we’re here for,” Nolasco said. “Work out the kinks. Everybody’s going to get better so you can’t get upset about things that are go during your first game of spring training.”

Then entered Josh Johnson. Both starters are capable of getting the ball on opening day and you got to imagine whoever has the better spring would get it (with an edge going to Nolasco for being lights out last season.) But whatever ground Nolasco earned, Johnson gained the same. Here are their lines:

Nolasco: 3 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 3 K’s
Johnson: 3 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 1 K

Near identical. So if you’re interested in what could be called the “Race To Standing on the mound during the National Anthem of Game One” so is manager Fredi Gonzalez. “ I thought they were outstanding, “Gonzalez said. “JJ was nails and Ricky was good. I think you just have to look at the overall: health. See how we are. It’s Spring Training and we still have a long 29 games left.”

Taylor Tankersley, who is fighting for a spot in the bullpen, struck out the side in the eighth inning. Tank appeared in just 25 games last season just after posting a career high 67 games in 2007. Kiko Calero pitched a scoreless seventh.

On the offensive side of the ball, Cam Maybin had some solid cuts despite going 1 for 4 at the plate. Hermida got a hold of a Radhames Liz pitch for a homer in the fourth inning. Wes Helms was a perfect 3-3 on the day, starting at first while Jorge Cantu played at 3rd. Alfredo Amezaga got the start at 2nd and was recorded an error on a grounder he charged very aggressively (probably would have waited back on it).

If Florida Marlins General Manager Larry Beinfest drew up a shopping list this offseason those would be the main entrees for them to pick up. With 17 players due to get a huge pay raise since playing at the major league level for three seasons, it was going to be an interesting Hot Stove for the Marlins.

For starters you parted ways with a ninth inning pitcher whose contributions were in question. On paper, Kevin Gregg is a proven closer with 32 and 29 saves the last two years, respectively. However, August was a month he was happy to end last season. Gregg lost four games including back-to-back blown saves to the New York Mets during what was turning out to be a close race for first place. A day after giving up a lead changing grand slam to Carlos Beltran with two outs in the ninth, Gregg complained about “inflammation in his left knee” and also learned he wouldn’t be resigned next season. Matt Lindstrom won the September closer audition over set-up man Joe Nelson, who left for greener pastures in Tampa.

Trades were inevitable for the Marlins and none bigger when Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen were shipped to divisional rival Washington. Willingham averaged 20 homers with a .266 batting average but his 100 strikeouts a season was far too much for Beinfest, not to mention missing 60 games last season due to a back injury. As for Olsen, his DUI last season mixed with fights with teammates became too much to bear along with a 31-37 win-loss mark. We’ll be seeing the Nationals 18 times this season.

Here’s a breakdown of the players who won’t be returning to camp this year. Interesting to note it would have cost us 20 million to retain these players.

Mike Jacobs- The power-hitting first baseman was a centerpiece of the Carlos Delgado trade. A converted catcher, Jacobs put up huge numbers last season with 32 homeruns and driving in 93 runs. However 119 strikeouts and just 118 hits was a major flaw in Jacobs. He’s currently battling arbitration with the Royals, whom he was traded to for Leo Nunez.

Expected ’09 Salary -Seeking 3.8 Million ’08 395,000

Kevin Gregg- Gregg was lights out during his two-year stint with the Marlins. Totaling nearly 30 saves both seasons. However struggles to the bullpen before the September stretch run saw demotion come Gregg’s way who was playing with “Inflammation in left knee.” With the closer role open during September, Matt Lindstrom out-battled Joe Nelson to secure the gig.

Expected ’09 Salary 4.2 Million ’08 2.5 Million

Joe Nelson- Nelson was a very solid reliever for the Marlins and his departure to intrastate rival Tampa Bay will be missed. Nelson appeared in 59 games and allowed just a dozen earned runs all season. However 1 save in 5 opportunities made it clear who the 2009 closer would be.

Expected ’09 Salary 1.3 Million

Scott Olsen- 25 year old southpaw with plenty of potential. Hopefully things pan out for him in the nation’s capital.

Expected ’09 Salary 2.5 Million (Asked for 3.5 but agreed since he would lose arbitration) ’08 405,000

Josh Willingham- Will have to compete with a crowded outfield in DC with Lastings Milledge, Austin Kearns, Wily Mo Pena, Elijah Dukes, and Willie Harris.

Expected ’09 Salary Currently taken to Arbitrators (Asking 3.6 million, Received an offer of 2.55 million)

Matt Treanor

Expected ’09 Salary 750,000

Doug Waechter

Expected ’09 Salary 645,000

Mark Hendrickson

Expected ’09 Salary 1.5 million

Justin Miller

Expected ’09 Salary- Invited to Giants camp

Luis Gonzalez

Expected ’09 Salary Currently Unsigned Free Agent

Arthur Rhodes

Expected ’09 Salary- Signed a 2 year, 4 million dollar deal

Paul Lo Duca

Expected ’09 Salary Currently unsigned Free Agent

Jacque Jones

Expected ’09 Salary 650,000 (If he makes the Reds 25 man roster)