The Miami Marlins are playoff contenders in September. How did they do it?
Miami Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill sat down Monday ready to discuss some big news. The Marlins had just completed two juxtaposing trades, one that brought in an All-Star outfielder to help in the present and another that shipped off a free-agent-to-be for a top prospect with familial ties to the organization.
But Hill’s focus turned to something else first. About a half hour earlier, the Marlins rallied against two-time defending National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and beat the New York Mets 5-3 at Citi Field. It was a makeup game on the road, played on one of Miami’s final two off days of the year and sandwiched between two home series.
“How about that game today?” Hill said. “A huge win. ... Just speaks to how tough-minded and resilient our group is.”
Games like that, wins like that, perseverance like that, afforded Hill the luxury to do what he did Monday. The win kept the Marlins (15-15) in playoff position as the calendar turned to September despite the slew of hurdles they faced to get to this point.
So, with opportunities presenting themselves, Hill went to work.
The end result, just before the trade deadline hit: The Marlins acquired the top position player available on the trade market in Diamondbacks outfielder Starling Marte in exchange for Caleb Smith, Humberto Mejia and Julio Frias (officially listed as a player to be named later). In a separate move, they also traded free-agent-to-be Jonathan Villar to the Blue Jays for a top prospect in outfielder Griffin Conine (the son of Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine).
Marte’s addition supplements a roster that is finally starting to make its way back to full strength. Players are returning from the team’s COVID-19 outbreak at the start of the year. Prospects, some at least, are living up to their billing.
And the Marlins, with 30 games remaining in a 60-game season, are setting themselves up for a chance to make a run at the postseason.
“Our club has fought so hard through the first 30 games for what they’ve endured and overcome,” Hill said. “We wanted to do everything on our part, ownership and front office, to put ourselves in a position to make it to the playoffs.”
Balancing the roster
Hill’s group had to work a little harder than usual in this already unusual season. The team’s COVID-19 outbreak in Philadelphia sidelined 18 players, 17 of whom were part of the Opening Day roster, after just three games. All at once, they lost three members of their starting rotation, eight members of their bullpen and four daily contributors from their lineup.
The scouting department scrambled to fill the roster before the Marlins returned to the field on Aug. 4, using a mix of waiver wire claims, trades, free agent signings, independent league signings, and veterans and prospects from their alternate training site in Jupiter with the hope of keeping the team afloat.
And then when you factor in injuries, optioning and recalling players based on performance, the Monday trades and players returning from COVID-19, the Marlins have made upwards of 120 roster moves during the first half of their 60-game season. They have had 55 players appear in at least one game this year and 14 make their MLB debuts. Only eight players have been on the active roster every day of the season.
“It’s been difficult,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of the constant turnover. “You’ve seen guys in the locker room that you’ve never seen before. Some guys you’ve never even heard about before. That’s been a little bit different.”
The ebbs and flows of the roster resulted in ebbs and flows in the win-loss column once Miami returned to the field.
Five consecutive wins. Then eight losses in 10 games. Then winning three of five against the Washington Nationals and sweeping a doubleheader against the Mets before losing another four consecutive games and snapping that streak by beating deGrom on Monday.
“We’re in a pennant race,” Mattingly said. “Take it one game at a time and don’t worry about all the other stuff.”
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‘Frontline championship starting pitching’
The Marlins know their success in this pennant race begins with starting pitching and are confident their rotation can be among the best in the league. Sandy Alcantara, their All-Star last season and Opening Day starter this year, is back after being one of 18 players to test positive for COVID-19 at the start of the year. Pablo Lopez and Elieser Hernandez are in the midst of breakout seasons.
Top Marlins prospect Sixto Sanchez as well as No. 9 overall prospect Trevor Rogers have flashed their potential through two starts apiece and look to be in the rotation for the long haul this season. Seven of the top 12 prospects in the organization according to MLB Pipeline are starting pitchers.
“We’ve been fighting a lot,” Alcantara said. “Nobody knows what will happen. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people this year. We’ve got to keep fighting. We’ve got amazing teammates right now.”
The state of the rotation and the outlook of what’s to come made Smith expendable. The 29-year-old lefty opened the season as Miami’s No. 2 starter but only made one start before testing positive for COVID-19. His absence from the active roster gave the Marlins the chance to see what their prospects had to offer. They have delivered, and made it easier for Hill to make the move for Marte without the Marlins sacrificing any of their top prospects.
“This is frontline championship starting pitching,” Hill said. “Those guys are going to force their way into the big leagues. ... When those guys do what they do, it does put you in a position where you can look to do other things with other parts of your inventory.”
Boosting the offense
The reasoning behind trading for Marte, meanwhile, was simple on the surface: The Marlins needed another consistent bat in their lineup. Miami has seen flashes from the offense but has also experienced its share of lulls. The Marlins entered Tuesday ranked 20th in the league in batting average (.237) and 21st in on-base percentage (.314). They have also been shut out three times in 30 games and have been held to one run on three other occasions.
Enter Marte, a one-time All-Star and career .288 hitter. The 31-year-old was hitting .311 with 23 runs scored, eight doubles, two home runs, 14 RBI and five stolen bases over 33 games. His presence in the lineup, Hill contends, will take pressure off players such as Brian Anderson, Corey Dickerson and Jesus Aguilar, who have carried the offensive load most of the season.
“A middle-of-the-order bat,” Hill said.
But Marte isn’t the only big bat coming back to the Marlins. Three starting position players in shortstop Miguel Rojas, catcher Jorge Alfaro and outfielder/first baseman/designated hitter Garrett Cooper have also returned from the COVID-19 IL and are contributing. Cooper, particularly, has gotten off to a hot start since returning, going 5 for 18 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI in four games.
“You obviously see what you missed,” Mattingly said. “Coop, that’s the one thing, he’s always been able to hit. It’s good to have him back. Hopefully, we can get everybody going around that.”
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