Tag: Florida Marlins

Florida Marlins Roster 2013: A Reason For Marlins Fans To Be Excited

I know, its three seasons away, and with the money Jeffrey Loria has that he isn’t spending, it seems ridiculous that we’d even have to wait that long for a another playoff berth, and we might not, but by 2013 this team will be one of the most potent in all of baseball.

They will continue to compete this year and will have similar seasons for the next two years, be in it until middle of September but never really have a solid chance.

The Braves look like they might have a few years of power in them and the Phillies will continue to be a contender, but by 2013, look for the Fish to be a serious NL powerhouse.

By that time, they’ll have moved into their fancy new ballpark and maybe actually draw some fans to their games. This is my ideal roster for 2013. Granted, they make make moves and lose/bring in names that could shake this up but just using the current roster and prospects now, take a look:

Begin Slideshow


Fantasy Baseball: Tuesday News and Notes

Ah, it’s good to be back…

Last Night Rewind

  • Keep an eye on Ryan Kalish in deeper leagues heading in to next season. Kalish has shown the ability to hit and is working on adjustments to the big-league game. He hit another grand slam last night and stole two bases, giving him three in his short stint. Kalish is likely to stick at this point heading in to 2011, and could be seen as a 20-20 player as early as next season.
  • Corey Hart finds himself on a recent tear, going eight for his last 25. In that stretch, he has knocked four home runs, including two last night. His numbers have fallen from the .288 he was hitting before the break to only .260 afterwards, but he certainly is hitting the ball well right now. At this point, it’s all about the streaks.
  • Madison Bumgarner recorded another road win last night, his fifth of the season. He has yet to win at home, but has pitched well outside of San Francisco. Of late, he has been solid. Bumgarner has worked seven innings in three of his last five starts, and has allowed two or fewer earned runs in four of five.
  • Mat Latos was scratched from his start on Monday, following a battle with the flu that kept him away from the team on Sunday. Latos lobbied to pitch, but the Padres were looking to be cautious overall with their young pitcher. Latos is expected to be fine, and is looking to get the start tonight for the Padres.
  • The loss of Josh Hamilton cannot be understated for both fantasy owners, and the Rangers. His injury did not look like much at the time, but a rib injury is what has sidelined Jacoby Ellsbury for the bulk of the season. Hamilton seems to be prone to maladies in general, and that makes him a hard selection. It looks like both David Murphy and Julio Borbon will see extra at-bats as a result of losing Hamilton.

Tuesday Notes

  • You might say that CC Sabathia has owned the Orioles this season. Sabathia is 4-0 in four starts against them this season with a 2.73 ERA. The one slight issue has been the home run. Sabathia has surrendered four in 29.2 innings. Nothing overwhelming from the Orioles, but you may see them start Nolan Reimold (he is back!) tonight, as Reimols is 6-for-14 against Sabathia liftime.
  • Jason Bartlett and B.J. Upton have struggled against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Upton is only 1-for-13, whlie Bartlett has recorded just three hits in 19 at-bats against him. Other than these two, there are no real concerns from the players you would have in your normal lineup. Matsuzaka has allowed seven runs on 12 hits, and eight walks in 11 innings against the Rays this season.
  • Justin Verlander has been dominant at home this season, posting a 9-3 record in 13 starts, while allowing batters to hit just .230 against him. Paul Konerko is only 4-for-34 against him lifetime while Mark Teahen is just 4-for-29 with 13 strikeouts. Big winner is the .333 of A.J. Pierzynski, who adds three home runs to the mix. Carlos Quentin checks in at .300 as well.
  • It is nice to see that Freddy Garcia is 2-0 against Detroit this season, but he had a setback over the week that delayed his last start. The back issue has lingered, but he anticipates being able to make his next start tonight against the Tigers. Despite the wins, he has allowed six home runs in 24.2 innings, and has an ERA over 4.00 against them in 2010.
  • While I would look to avoid Jose Lopez against Dallas Braden, Chone Figgins has shown good numbers at 8-for-19 against him. Ichiro Suzuki checks in at .294, and even Franklin Gutierrez is 4-for-9 against the Oakland pitcher. Braden has allowed only two earned runs in two starts over 16 innings against Seattle this year.
  • Clayton Kershaw is 2-0 against San Diego this season, allowing only two runs on 10 hits and four walks in 14.1 innings pitched against them. Adrian Gonzalez has ugly numbers against him, going only 3-for-22. Ryan Ludwick is not much better with only two hits in 12 at-bats. The best bet is Scott Hairston at 5-for-12 or Miguel Tejada at 4-for-9.
  • Tim Linececum is just 1-5 in his last six starts and is just 0-1 in three starts against the Diamondbacks this year. He has allowed 11 runs in 19 innings against them on 19 hits. The numbers are not exactly pretty from a team perspective, but Justin Upton has hit .321 against him lifetime. Otherwise, despite the numbers this year, leave your Diamondbacks on the bench where you can.
  • Both Ryan Braun and Craig Counsell are hitting better than .400 against Kyle Lohse. Braun is 7-for-17 while Counsell checks in at 10-for-22. Lohse has had ugly numbers in three of his last four outings and has allowed 23 earned runs in his last 16.2 innings of work.
  • Chris Volstad has had some ugly outings against the Phillies this year. He is 0-1 in three starts with a 5.63 ERA in that stretch. That translates to nine walks and 23 hits in 16 innings pitched. Only red flags for the Phillies are the 1-for-17 of Jayson Werth, and the 4-for-21 of Shane Victorino. Everyone else is good otherwise. Raul Ibanez, Carlos Ruiz, and Ryan Howard all check in at better than .400 against him.
  • Spot Starts: Figueroa, Blanton, Chacin

Wednesday Notes

  • J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell have ugly numbers against Matt Garza. Both have at least 22 at-bat,s and neither cracks .160 against him. Look to use Adrian Beltre and Victor Martinez, as both hit better than .300 against him. David Ortiz is only a .250 hitter, but does have three home runs in 28 at bats. Garza is 2-1 against Boston in five starts, but does have a 4.11 ERA.
  • Dan Uggla has certainly had his issues with Cole Hamels. Uggla is just 5-for-32 against him lifetime with 11 strikeouts. Hanley Ramirez has hit just .256 in 39 at-bats with 11 strikeouts as well. Hamels has been solid of late, not allowing an earned run over his last two starts in 15 innings of work.
  • Barry Zito has been hit hard by both Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew. Reynolds may only be hovering near .200 this season, but he is 8-for-17 with three home runs against Zito. Drew checks in at .345 in 29 at-bats. These two have by far the best numbers against the lefty. Zito is just 2-7 on the road this season with a 5.07 ERA.
  • Chad Billingsley is 2-1 against the Padres this season, giving up only three runs in 19.1 innings of work. The numbers have not been great for the Padres overall against him. Adrian Gonzalez is just a .233 hitter in 43 at-bats. Only Miguel Tejada and Yorvit Torrealba have numbers worth starting in any format.
  • Nothing good to report for the Tigers against John Danks. Ryan Raburn is 1-for-13, while Jhonny Peralta is only 6-for-29 and Brandon Inge is 4-for-18. Danks is 6-3 on the road this season and already has recorded a good win against the Tigers.
  • Spot Starts: Hudson, Wells, Duensing

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Freaky Fish: Recap of Unfortunate Injuries to the Florida Marlins This Season

The Marlins have had quite the string of injuries these season but all have come because of some event that lead to the injury whether baseball related or plays outside the baseball diamonds. These injuries coupled with the shaky bullpen of the Marlins have hurt their playoff chances for this season. 

It all began with John Baker back in May then it translated to Chris Coghlan in July, Ricky Nolasco in August, Donnie Murphy and Logan Morrison now in September. Luckily, these haven’t been the Marlins best core players like Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, or Josh Johnson or the Marlins would have long kissed away their playoff chances.

Still, these injuries have all affected the Marlins for all the dumb and bizarre reasons. Here is a recap of how they got them, their statistics at the time of the injury and a freak factor rating on a scale of one to 10. 

Begin Slideshow


Florida Marlins Say Altercation With Washington Never Happened (Satire)

The Florida Marlins have publicly stated that whatever media sources are reporting a brawl during their game last night are false. Major League Baseball says that since there were no fans at the Marlins game last night, there are no witnesses to prove otherwise. 

The Marlins have become synonymous with having a very low attendance average. On television, there are not any fans in the seats and thus a ton of orange seats are left exposed to the cameras. Last night was no exception. 

When Nyjer Morgan charged the mound last night, both benches were cleared and just about everyone on both teams were involved in the brawl. But it seems like those were the only people around to see what happened. 

You may ask what about the television cameras and the live broadcast of the game? Well, according to Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, he says that what was seen on television was a staged commercial. It was all a fake advertisement during the inning. 

It doesn’t seem to add up even in the Commissioner’s office. Bud Selig has refused to comment on what “reportedly” went down in Miami.

The eight game suspension to Nyjer Morgan issued today was due to the inappropriate language used in the commercial. Baseball officials are still looking for the possible one fan in attendance at the Marlins vs. Nationals game. The fan holds the key testimony as to what really occurred on the Thursday night in Miami. 

Looks like this is where having fans of your team actually comes in handy! Sadly, it doesn’t seem like there is such thing as a Florida Marlins fan. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Washington Nationals’ Nyjer Morgan Draws Eight Game Suspension

MLB handed out suspensions today following Wednesday’s brawl between the Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals.  Nyjer Morgan received eight games (in addition to the seven game suspension he has been appealing for hitting a fan in the head with a ball he threw into the stands on August 21); Chris Volstad received six games; Marlins’ pitcher Alex Sanabia received five games, Gaby Sanchez and Nationals’ pitcher Doug Slaten and 3B coach Pat Listach each received three games, and managers Jim Riggleman and Edwin Rodriguez received two and one game suspensions respectively.

Frankly, an eight game suspension for Morgan seems just about right.  He charged the mound, but only after being hit by a pitch in the fourth inning and a second pitch was thrown behind his back in the sixth.  I don’t think MLB could reasonably suspend Morgan for either of the two big home plate collisions, mainly because they waited too long on the cheap shot Morgan took on Cardinals’ catcher Bryan Anderson last Saturday and the collision with Marlins’ catcher Hayes on Tuesday really wasn’t a play justifying discipline.

MLB does not have unlimited discretion in disciplining players, because the Players’ Association will file a grievance for any discipline that does not comply with prior precedents for similar conduct.  MLB could take into account Morgan’s previous suspension, but it’s also worth noting that MLB justified Morgan’s relatively long eight game suspension (five or six games seems like a more typical suspension for charging the mound and setting off a brawl in these circumstances) by handing out significant suspensions to the other players, managers and coaches involved in the brawl.

One has to suspect that Morgan’s recent spate of bad conduct has a lot to do with the poor season he’s having and the fact that he must at some level realize his major league career is in serious jeopardy.  He turned 30 in July, which is getting old for a marginal major leaguer.

Also, after a fine 2009 campaign in which Morgan was a solid lead-off man (.369 on-base percentage, 42 steals with a 71 percent success rate and a .757 OPS) and was also one of the Senior Circuit’s best defensive outfielders, (according to fangraphs’ UZR ratings), Morgan has been terrible in 2010.  His .317 OBP doesn’t cut it, and his center field defense (according again to fangraphs) has been a shade below average.

Not surprising then Morgan is either frustrated or determined to be more aggressive to try to get better results as the season winds down.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Why Nyjer Morgan-Style Base-Brawls Are Good for Major League Baseball

I live in South Florida, and right now I am not in baseball mode. My attention has shifted to other teams in the area.

However, something happened recently that brought my attention back to Major League Baseball:

The bench-clearing brawl between the Marlins and the Nationals.

Down here in South Florida, baseball is normally filler until football season starts, but the Marlins in recent years have managed to keep things interesting by contending for the playoffs almost every season. This year, however, has been a different story.

With a lackluster bullpen, a superstar that does not seem to show much interest, injuries, and a front office that continually lies to its fanbase, it’s been a rough year to be a Marlins fan.

Most fans, if not all, have resigned themselves to the fact that the postseason is a mere pipe dream, even though mathematically the Marlins do stand a chance. Interest in the team is down, and fan morale is even lower after recent reports indicated that the front office has been a little less than truthful.

However, last Wednesday proved that with a few punches and some breaking of unwritten rules, baseball can come off that back burner, at least for a little while.

YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, ESPN, and local and national news were all abuzz about the Marlins and Nationals! These two teams have no business leading headlines, yet there they were front and center for all the world to see.

All people wanted to talk about the next few days was if they saw “the fight” and if they saw Gaby Sanchez deck Nyjer Morgan. Jokes were made that Sanchez should play linebacker for the Dolphins. Morgan became public enemy No. 1 down here for a few days, and EVERYONE was talking about Major League Baseball.

Major League Baseball is no longer the national pastime, so it’s time drastic changes are made before it becomes completely irrelevant.

So where do you start? I say where the Marlins and Nationals left off.

Max Kellerman once said that the No. 1 sport in the world is boxing, because if you put one guy shooting hoops in one corner, another guy throwing footballs in another, and two guys fighting in the third, the biggest crowd will form near the guys fighting—not to mention the rapid rise in popularity by the UFC.

Why can’t this work for baseball? Stop warning benches when guys throw at each other, and stop suspending guys when they rush the mound; let them duke it out, and let the players police themselves when it comes to these unwritten rules of baseball. If the Marlins and Nationals can captivate the sports world for a few days, why can’t the rest of the league do the same thing?

(Follow me on Twitter.com/DavidAlen)

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Florida Marlins Can Blame Themselves for the Nyjer Morgan Mess

Well, I suppose you have to do something to liven things up when the two teams playing are a combined 32 games out of first place in their own division, with only a month left to the season. This goes double when the game is already a blowout in the sixth inning.

The Marlins and Nationals apparently decided to liven things up, ironically, by trying to kill each other.

Well, it was a little more complicated than that.

In the top of the 6th inning of a 15-5 drubbing, Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan evidently took umbrage at the fact that the Marlins were throwing at him, and charged the mound. What Morgan (generously listed at “six feet” tall and 175 lbs) thought he was going to do to Chris Volstad (6’8″, 230 lbs) is beyond my comprehension.

For his part, Volstad seemed singularly unimpressed as Morgan charged at him, throwing his glove down in arrogance and dodging Morgan’s only real punch, that jumping left hook he learned from watching too many action movies.

It didn’t work.

And, I would guess that among the things going through Morgan’s mind as he ran out to the mound, he probably didn’t imagine being flattened by a man named “Gaby.”

Instead, Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez, not much taller but about 50 pounds heavier than Morgan, clotheslined him and brought him to the ground, whereupon everyone else joined in the scrum. It took 10 or 15 minutes for the figurative dust to settle, and when it did, both Volstad and Morgan had been ejected, of course.

Additionally, Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez (presumably for complicity in, if not actually ordering the plunking) and relief pitcher Jose Veras, whose only crime as far as I can tell was that he happened to be standing next to one of the umpires when they were looking for another scapegoat, were also ejected.

During the course of the brawl, various players, coaches, and even (I think) the Nationals bullpen catcher had gotten into the mix. Nationals third base coach Pat Listach was clobbering Volstad at the bottom of the melee, and others can clearly be seen throwing hard punches on the video replay, but nobody else was ousted.

In most of the highlight reels, Morgan ends up looking like the bad guy, and with good reason.  Namely, that he makes himself look like a bad guy. I mean, not like a Hitler-type of bad guy, more the professional wrestler type of bad guy.

A guy who shoots off his mouth and tries to back his words up with action and even when he’s more or less defeated, feels the need to save face by, well, yelling more. A guy who seemingly walks around all the time as though he’s still hitting the .351 he smacked for the Nats last year, rather than the .257 mark he’s posted this year.

The truth, however, is rarely that simple.

The problem did not start in the top of the sixth on Wednesday night. It didn’t even start Wednesday, but rather Tuesday night, in a scoreless tie in the top of the 10th inning. Running full speed, Morgan bowled over Marlins’ catcher Brett Hayes, trying to score from second base on a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop Hanley Ramirez. The result was a separated shoulder for Hayes and probably the end of his season.

Morgan went back to touch the plate, just in case, but Hayes had held onto the ball, and he was out. Reportedly, Morgan didn’t say anything to Hayes either then or after the game, and evidently the Marlins didn’t appreciate that. I guess they think that an opposing player ought to apologize for trying to win the game any way he can, even though it was essentially a clean play that just ended badly for their guy.

What they should have taken exception to, if anything, was the slow reaction and lazy throw to home plate, which clocked only 69 miles per hour.

Ramirez has a major league shortstop’s arm, and is certainly capable of throwing a baseball at 90 mph, perhaps more. But this lobbed throw forced Hayes to catch it as Morgan came barreling towards him, giving him no time to set himself for the collision. A 90 mph throw would have given him an extra 0.2 seconds to set himself, which is longer than it sounds like, and might have helped him to stave off injury.

For that matter, if Ramirez had been paying closer attention to Morgan, he might have seen him running full steam sooner and therefore given Hayes enough time to avoid the collision all together. If the Marlins are looking to blame someone for Hayes’ injury, they need look no further than their own All-Star shortstop.

Morgan, for his part, was just playing heads-up baseball—risking injury to himself as well, it should be noted—trying to win a scoreless, extra-inning game for his team. His effort to hit the catcher hard enough to dislodge the ball is no more or less than thousands of players have done in thousands of baseball games over the last century and a half of professional baseball.

That the Marlins didn’t appreciate the outcome—and they did eventually win the game, after all—is their problem.

But they didn’t see it that way. With the score 14-3 Marlins, with one out in the top of the fourth inning the next night, Morgan came to bat, and the Fish saw their opportunity. Volstad hit him with a 92 mph fastball and then stared Morgan down, waiting for a reaction. Nyjer didn’t give him the satisfaction though, turning away from the pitcher, briefly rubbing his highly-padded elbow and scampering down to first base.

But the Marlins made a bad gamble, doing for Morgan the one thing he’s largely been unable to do for himself this year: they put him on base. While Morgan is not a terribly effective base stealer, on a pace to lead the NL in times caught for the second time in his career, he also had 30 successful steals so far this year, so he’s nothing if not fast.

Plus, he’s got a chip on his shoulder and a reason to show them up now, so he stole second base, and then stole third three pitches later. That gave him all the opportunity he needed to score a run when the Marlins’ second baseman Donnie Murphy stumbled and sustained an injury catching a pop-up. They really showed him, huh?

So the Marlins, feeling that the “lesson” had not yet sunk into Morgan’s head, decided to try to sink a baseball into it instead. But Volstad missed this time, throwing behind him and eliciting the Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon response you’ve probably already seen a dozen times on SportsCenter.

Obviously warnings were given to both benches after the fracas, so when Gaby Sanchez got plunked an inning later both pitcher Doug Slaten and manager Jim Riggleman were ejected. Everyone else was allowed to finish their regularly scheduled program, in the form of a 16-10 trouncing that was frankly an embarrassment for both franchises.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Washington Nationals’ Nyjer Morgan and More Homeplate Collisions

Baserunner/catcher home plate collisions are back in the news after Nyjer Morgan instigated two such collisions that ended up costing his team runs and generated controversy.

The first happened in last Saturday’s game between the Cardinals and the Nats.  Willie Harris hit a bases-loaded double with Morgan on first base.  Morgan came flying around the bases, and St. Louis catcher Bryan Anderson initially set up to block the plate.

However, Cardinals’ first baseman Albert Pujols cut off the throw from right field and held up on throwing to the plate where he seemingly had no play on Morgan.  When Pujols held the ball, Anderson stepped out of the base line toward first base. 

Instead of simply scoring the run, Morgan stepped out of the base path into fair territory, threw an elbow into Anderson and in the process completely missed stepping on home plate.

READ: Most Pathetic Fight Attempts in Sports

Another National in the on-deck area grabbed Morgan and pushed him back so Morgan would return and touch home.  Morgan was called out on the basis of interference because another National touched him before the run had scored.

This was obviously a stupid play by Morgan, and one can easily see why even Nationals’ manager Jim Riggleman criticized Morgan afterward. 

You don’t give up a run so you can go out of your way (and the base path) to hit a fielder who doesn’t even have the ball.

In yesterday’s game between the Marlins and the Nationals, Morgan was involved in another collision, and again it cost the Nationals a run.

Morgan’s decision to hit Marlins’ rookie catcher Brett Hayes and try to knock the ball loose was a stupid play, because Morgan probably would have scored if he had slid into home plate.

In my mind, however, it was not a dirty play like Morgan’s elbow to Bryan Anderson on Saturday. The Marlins and Nats were tied 0-0 in the 10th inning when Morgan tried to score on an infield grounder.

It was going to be a close play at the plate.  Hayes caught the ball on the third base side of the plate, and (the slow motion replay shows) just had time to set himself before Morgan barreled into him.  Hayes injured his shoulder on the play, but he held onto the ball and made the out.

A base runner absolutely has the right in those circumstances to run into the catcher, who is standing in the base path, to try to knock the ball loose if the runner thinks it gives him the best chance to score. 

The game was on the line, and the professional game is about winning first, second and last. Base runners are paid to score runs, pure and simple.

It is a split second decision, and in hindsight you can say that Morgan made the wrong decision in terms of scoring the run.  It’s also a shame Hayes was hurt on the play. 

However, hard, clean plays like that are part of the game, unless you advocate changing the rules to provide that catchers can never be in the base paths even when they have the ball in their hands.

I think catchers should be barred from setting up in the base path before they have received the throw from another fielder, not that catchers shouldn’t be able to move into the base path once the ball is actually in their hands.

Interestingly, no one on the Nationals had anything negative to say about Morgan’s collision with Hayes.

As I’m sure you know, there was a bench-clearing brawl in today’s Marlins-Nationals game.  Chris Volstad threw one behind Morgan’s back, and Morgan charged the mound.

However, there was more to today’s brawl than the Marlins trying to get back solely because of the Morgan-Hayes collision. 

Morgan had stolen a couple of bases in the game even though the Nationals were down by 10 runs (I can kind of see why it’s considered bad form to steal bases when your team is up by 10, but I don’t think it makes any sense to consider it unsportsmanlike to steal bases when your team is losing big—if anything, the base stealer is doing the team with the big lead a favor, since the cost of getting caught stealing is much greater than the value of a stolen base when the stealer’s team is that far behind).

However, some ballplayers are offended by base-stealing anytime the game is a blowout one way or the other.

I’m also certain that the Marlins knew all about the Morgan-Anderson collision, which put the Morgan-Hayes collision in a different light. 

A lot of baseball people watch SportsCenter or go to MLB.com, because they want to know what their competitors are doing.  It’s their livelihood, after all.

Finally, the brawl happened because Morgan decided to charge the mound even though he hadn’t actually been hit with the pitch.

The totality of the past week’s events don’t cast Morgan in a very favorable light, and I think you can be fairly certain that Tony La Russa and the Cardinals won’t forget the Morgan-Anderson collision between now and the next time the Cardinals and Marlins play each other.

However, the Marlins have probably gotten Morgan out of their system, particularly after the big shot first baseman Gaby Sanchez gave Morgan after Morgan threw a punch at Volstad during today’s brawl.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Ricky Nolasco, The Road Warrior Out For The Season

Update: I thought the Marlins would be smart enough to shut down Ricky Nolasco for the season, but apparently I was wrong.

With a torn meniscus in his right knee, Nolasco took the mound on Saturday and got torched for seven hits and six runs in two innings by the Atlanta Braves.

I understand Nolasco wanted pitch, but the Marlins have to be smart and realize that Nolasco on the mound can’t yield positive result. The Marlins aren’t going to the playoffs and continuously pitching Nolasco with a torn meniscus in his knee could not only do further damage to that knee; it could damage his arm as well.

It’s quite possible that Nolasco could change his motion or arm angle to compensate for his knee, a common cause of injury to pitchers. I credit Nolasco for wanting to take the ball, but sitting out the remainder of the season is.

Original Post

Last week I wrote about Jair Jurrjens, the home warrior. I thought it would be fitting to write this week about a guy who has truly been a road warrior this season.

With no disrespect to Animal or the late Hawk, Florida Marlins pitcher Ricky Nolasco was a true road warrior this season. Despite his season ending prematurely (he wants to pitch, but that would be a dumb idea) because of a torn meniscus in his right knee, Nolasco really was a stud on the road this season.

Overall on the season, Nolasco is 14-8 with a 4.22 ERA, a 1.23 WHIP, and averages 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings. It has been a solid season for Nolasco considering he was sent down to the minors last season.

On the road, however Nolasco really shined. In 14 starts, Nolasco was 10-2 with a 3.35 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and averaged 8.3 K/9.

The biggest difference for Nolasco on the road versus at home is that he kept the ball in the ballpark.

At home, Nolasco is giving up 1.8 HR’s per nine innings, and on the road he is only giving up 0.9 HR’s/9. What’s interesting about Nolasco’s splits is that A—his fly-ball percentage is about the same (41 percent) on the road versus at home— and B—he is the complete opposite of the Marlins’ pitching staff as a whole.

The Marlins’ pitching staff has a lower ERA at home than on the road (3.77 to 4.13) and gives up less HR’s/9 at home (0.67) as on the road (0.89). Perhaps Ricky should do the opposite and go from tuna on toast, coleslaw, and a cup of coffee to chicken salad on rye, untoasted, and a cup of tea in order to fit in with the rest of his staff.

Why Nolasco struggled at home this year while the other Marlin pitchers enjoyed success is beyond me. But what I do know is that Nolasco really had one heck of a season on the road and was a true road warrior.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Florida Marlins Executives Scramble To Defend Public Funding of Ballpark

Florida Marlins president David Samson has no shortage of critics these days in Miami-Dade County. He can thank Deadspin.com for his troubles.

On Monday, August 23, Deadspin.com obtained the financial records of the Marlins covering the 2008-09 seasons, and the fallout was not pretty.

When the Marlins approached Miami-Dade County officials for financial help in constructing a new baseball facility, they contended that the Marlins only break even financially year after year, the centerpiece argument for obtaining local government funding.

In fact, documents show the Marlins could have covered a substantial amount of the new stadium’s construction themselves and still turned an annual operating profit.

Documents obtained by Deadspin.com revealed that the Marlins had an operating income of over $50 million in the last two fiscal years.

Further documents that were recently revealed have shown that the Marlins paid out a “management fee” of $5.4 million over that same two year period to a company called Double Play.

According to the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, Double Play is owned by both Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and Samson, effectively paying themselves for the period shown.

Loria and Samson have been crying poverty to anyone who would listen over the course of the last several years. The leaked documents prove otherwise, and now both men are scrambling to explain to the public why they should be entrusted with their fans’ hard earned money to provide sound entertainment value.

You can follow Doug on Twitter, @desertdesperado.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Copyright © 1996-2010 Kuzul. All rights reserved.
iDream theme by Templates Next | Powered by WordPress