Marlins continue to rebuild identity even as pandemic impacts critical season of rebuild
New Miami Marlins bench coach James Rowson watched first hand last season as the Minnesota Twins’ “Bomba Squad” came to life. Rowson was in his third year as the Twins’ hitting coach, and he and the rest of the Twins’ hitting department saw significant offensive results from across a youth-laden lineup.
The final result: An MLB record 307 home runs and an unexpected run to the playoffs. Eight players hit at least 25 home runs. Seven of them were younger than 30 years old. Five had played less than a handful of full MLB seasons before being part of the Twins’ breakout season that resulted in 101 wins and a playoff berth.
A similar build to what the Marlins have right now and the results that Miami ultimately wants to see.
Rowson, who now oversees the Marlins’ run production as their unofficial offensive coordinator, hopes to bring some of that magic over to a Miami team desperately searching for answers and in the midst of its own culture shift as they head into the fifth year under manager Don Mattingly and third under the Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter ownership group.
But Rowson also notes that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach that leads to the eye-popping numbers. Each team, at its core is different. They need to find that communal bond that unites them and brings out their potential.
“We create the culture,” Rowson said, “but the players will create their identity. Their identity will be about them. Every team has its own identity. By no means am I going to come and and try to create the Bomba Squad [in Miami] because I never created the Bomba Squad. The Bomba Squad created themselves. They played the game a way that created what they did. What we’re going to encourage is the same thing here to get these guys to be free, play the game the way they play it and be themselves. They’re going to create a great identity here in Miami.”
The identity they want to create doesn’t center around home runs or individual accolades. If focuses on finally ending the decade-long string of losing records and creating sustained success that the franchise has never seen in its 27-year history.
That starts with the players, the blend of veterans added in the offseason and budding prospects in Miami’s minor-league system the past few years.
It’s groomed by the Marlins’ coaching staff and front office, one that has noticeable New York Yankees connections throughout (see: Mattingly, Jeter, special advisor Jorge Posada, vice president of player development and scouting Gary Denbo, etc.) and thus an understanding of what goes into winning on an annual basis.
It ends with a commitment from everyone who walks into the clubhouse to achieving the end goal, even if it means maneuvering around a pandemic and only having 60 games compared to the usual 162 to prove that this team could be on the upswing.
“Honestly, I’ve been trying that from the beginning — just to make sure the culture’s good, that guys want to be here, that we’re playing the game right, preparing for games,” said Mattingly, who begins his fifth season as the Marlins’ manager on July 24 when Miami faces the Philadelphia Phillis. “Making sure that keeps evolving, and I think that’s just continued over the last couple of years.”
“You probably don’t necessarily see it. You’re obviously not seeing it on wins on the scoreboard, but the way you’re treating guys, the way you’re preparing, the way you’re bringing guys up through development, those are all important things as part of that culture.”
The Marlins’ latest acquisitions help amplify that message. After going a combined 110-203 over the first two years of the Sherman/Jeter ownership, sacrificing their MLB record for the growth of their overall organizational depth, Miami made a relative splash in the offseason to fortify their big-league club.
Corey Dickerson. Jesus Aguilar. Jonathan Villar. Francisco Cervelli. Matt Joyce. Brandon Kintzler. Yimi Garcia.
Not necessarily eventual Hall of Famers. But more than a half-dozen veterans with proven track records and a wealth of experience to share with a young club.
They’ve been in pennant races and know what is required to make that final push that results in playing postseason baseball.
Cervelli, a 12-year MLB veteran who spent his first seven seasons with the Yankees, called the Yankees his first school. His first player mentor: Posada.
“I grew up in an organization where it’s a winning mentality,” Cervelli said. “They don’t let you focus on only individual things. It’s all about collectively, so I come here to share my experience and what I know, and learn with the young guys.”
Shortstop Miguel Rojas, the Marlins’ captain and the second-longest tenured player on the Marlins roster (behind only pitcher Jose Urena), has made sure the team stayed unified even when they were apart for more than three months because of the coronavirus pandemic during a critical juncture of the rebuild.
Players used a group chat where, according to Rojas, they talked for maybe two or three hours a day “about the process, about what is the best for the team, different kind of steps that we’re gonna have to take to make sure that we get this rolling and we take advantage of every little opportunity.”
Rojas wants everyone, veterans and newcomers alike, to feel like they had a voice in the team’s proceedings. It amplified the Marlins’ message of unity and commitment that has been prevalent throughout summer camp.
No one on the team has opted out of the shortened season. The only players missing from camp — Joyce and outfielder Lewis Brinson — are on the injured list (the team isn’t specifying what resulted in the IL placement).
“Now,” Mattingly said, “it needs to start translating into wins on the field. Because that only goes so far. … As we continue to grow, that part’s going to take care of itself.”
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