What the Marlins have to do to avoid the most single-season losses in franchise history
The Miami Marlins’ race to avoid 108 is officially on.
With a 47-85 record, loss in 22 of their last 27 games, and 20 of their final 30 games this season against teams in the thick of the National League playoff race, the Marlins conceivably are in danger of surpassing the franchise record 108-loss mark set in 1998.
A 10th consecutive losing season has already been guaranteed.
But the Marlins, finishing up the second year of their rebuild under the Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter ownership group, need to win at least eight of their final 30 games to avoid what has been the franchise’s rock-bottom mark for more than two decades.
On paper, the Marlins winning less than a third of their games down the stretch should be possible.
But with the way they have played as of late — Miami has just six wins in August — anything could happen.
The Marlins finish up a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday — a sub-.500 team that has won all six games against the Marlins this year heading into the series finale.
After that, Miami’s final stretch includes:
▪ A six-game road trip to the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates
▪ A seven-game homestand against the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers (four games)
▪ A six-game West Coast swing against the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks
▪ A three-game home series against the Nationals
▪ And a seven-game road trip against the New York Mets (four games) and Philadelphia Phillies.
As of Thursday, the Nationals hold the NL’s top Wild Card spot, while the Phillies, Brewers, Mets and Diamondbacks are all withing five games of the Chicago Cubs for the second playoff berth.
There have been some bright spots this year with the big-league club. That 13-5 stretch in May. Seven games with double-digit runs scored. Eleven games with 15 hits. Seven shutout wins. Avoiding being no-hit despite the offensive deficiencies that have surrounded the team most of the year.
But the losses have piled up in between and season-worst club records have already fallen in the process even with a month of games left to play.
The Marlins have already set the franchise record for home runs allowed with 197 after giving up eight in their first three games against the Reds. The previous club record was 193 set in 2017. They have given up 70 home runs in the last 29 games and gave up at least one home run in a franchise record 23 consecutive games before snapping that streak in their 19-11 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.
Marlins pitchers have also hit 70 batters so far, six shy of the club record of 76 set in 2007.
On offense, the Marlins have been shut out an MLB-high 19 times. No other team has been shut out more than 12 times this year. Miami could also set club records for most double plays (116 so far; record is 144 set in 2005), fewest triples (12 so far; record-low is 24 in 2017).
This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 3:32 PM.
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