A by-the-numbers look at the Miami Marlins at the halfway mark of the 2021 season
The Miami Marlins have reached the halfway mark of the 2021 season. Through 81 games, the club is sitting with a 35-46 record, 11 games under .500, in last place in the National League East and eight-and-a-half games behind the division-leading New York Mets for first place.
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the Marlins at the halfway point.
Team stats
▪ Plus-21: The Marlins’ overall run differential at the halfway mark, which is the highest among all five NL Easts teams. Miami is one of just two teams with a losing record and a positive run differential. The other is the Atlanta Braves at plus-15.
▪ 55: Number of games decided by three runs or fewer. Miami is 19-36 in those games, including 9-18 in 27 games decided by one run.
▪ 18-18: Record at loanDepot park. The Marlins play 45 of their final 81 games at home.
▪ 16-14: Marlins record against NL East teams. Miami has winning records against three of their four divisional opponents so far this season — 6-3 in nine games against the Braves, 5-4 in nine games against the Phillies and 3-2 in five games against the Mets. They are 2-5 in seven games against the Nationals.
▪ 4: Length of longest winning streak, which happened twice. The first was April 10-14 when they won 3-0 against the Mets and then won their first three games of a road series against the Braves. The second took place May 4-7, when they swept a three-game home series with the Arizona Diamondbacks and won their series opener with the Milwaukee Brewers.
▪ 8: Length of longest losing streak, which took place May 27 through June 5. The Marlins were outscored 44-23 in those games and were walked off twice.
▪ 3-4: Record in extra-inning games.
▪ 2-10: Record in inter-league play. The Marlins were swept in four games against the Toronto Blue Jays and three games with the Boston Red Sox. They took one game each against the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles in the first half of the season. Miami has eight more games against AL East teams in the second half of the season: Two at the Orioles July 27-28; three at home with the New York Yankees July 30-Aug. 1 and three at the Rays Sept. 24-26.
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Team Pitching
▪ 3.34: The Marlins’ collective ERA, which ranks fifth heading into Sunday’s slate of games. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers (3.16), San Francisco Giants (3.26), San Diego Padres (3.72) and Mets (3.32) have better marks.
▪ Sub-3.00: The Marlins have three of MLB’s 21 qualified starting pitchers with ERAs below 3.00: Trevor Rogers (2.14, 8th in MLB), Sandy Alcantara (2.96, 20th in MLB) and Pablo Lopez (2.97, 21st in MLB). The Mets are the only other team with that distinction at this point of the season (Jacob deGrom, 0.95 ERA; Taijuan Walker, 2.44; Marcus Stroman, 2.45).
▪ minus-2.08: Differential in bullpen ERA from 2020 through the first half of the 2021 season. Marlins relievers have a combined 3.42 ERA, which ranks sixth in baseball, over 299 2/3 innings. In 2020, that number was 5.50 over 230 2/3 innings.
▪ 16: Total blown save opportunities, tied with the Dodgers, Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and for third-most in MLB. The Phillies have the most blown save opportunities, at 22, followed by the Seattle Mariners’ 17.
▪ 3.06: The Marlins’ walks-per-nine-innings ratio, the sixth-lowest in MLB and nearly a full walk lower than last season (4.04). On pace to be the Marlins’ lowest walk ratio for a season since 2014 (2.83).
Individual pitching
▪ 2.71: Combined ERA of Marlins starting pitchers Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Trevor Rogers. Over 51 combined starts, those three allowed more than three earned runs in a start just seven times.
▪ 10: Number of starters used outside of the main three of Alcantara, Lopez, and Rogers. Cody Poteet leads the way with seven starts. Daniel Castano, Nick Neidert and Zach Thompson have each made four, with Thompson set to make his fifth on Sunday. Jordan Holloway has made three. Braxton Garrett, Elieser Hernandez and Ross Detwiler have started twice each. Paul Cambell and John Curtiss each started once.
▪ 24: Number of Sandy Alcantara fastballs with a velocity of at least 100 mph. It’s the most by a starting pitcher this season not named Jacob deGrom. Twenty of those 24 triple-digit fastballs were thrown in Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Braves.
▪ 15: Number of groundball double plays Sandy Alcantara has forced, a mark that leads National League pitchers and is second in MLB behind only the Houston Astros’ Zack Greinke (16).
▪ 13: Number of quality starts by the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara, which is tied for the third-most in MLB behind the Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer and Walker Buehler (14 each). A quality start is defined as throwing at least six innings while allowing no more than three earned runs.
▪ 10.72: Trevor Rogers’ strikeout-per-nine-innings rate, a mark that leads Marlins starting pitchers and all qualified rookies in the National League while ranking 15th overall in MLB.
▪ 110 and 2.60: Trevor Rogers, with 110 strikeouts and a 2.16 ERA, is the first pitcher in Marlins history with at least 110 strikeouts and an ERA below 2.60 in his first 16 starts of a season.
▪ 22: Consecutive innings thrown by rookie reliever Anthony Bender to start his MLB career before he allowed an earned run. It’s the fifth-longest streak in MLB history. However, it should be noted in that span that Bender did allow one unearned run and four of seven inherited runners to score.
▪ 24-to-1: Richard Bleier’s strikeout-to-walk ratio, the best mark among all MLB relievers. Bleier has walked just one of the 108 batters he has faced over 28 2/3 innings this season.
▪ 37: Total relief appearances by Dylan Floro, tied for the 13th-most in baseball. Floro has primarily been the Marlins’ setup man in the eighth inning.
▪ 13: Total saves by Yimi Garcia.
Team offense
▪ 11: Number of games in which the Marlins have scored at least eight runs. Miami is undefeated in those games.
▪ 28: Number of games in which Miami has been held to two runs or fewer. Miami has lost all of those games.
▪ .669: The Marlins’ on-base-plus-slugging mark, the second-lowest OPS in baseball. Only the Pirates, at .649, have a worse mark.
▪ 41.8: Percentage of Marlins runs scored with two outs this season (133 of 318). Miami scored 46.4 percent of its runs in 2020 with two outs.
▪ 51: Total stolen bases, the sixth-most in MLB and second in the National League behind only the Padres (MLB-best 76).
▪ .000: The difference in the Marlins’ batting average and their expected batting average according to Statcast. Eleven teams in MLB have a higher batting average than expected, while 18 are hitting slightly below what Statcast projects they should be hitting based. The Marlins’ .231 average, the ninth-lowest in baseball, is exactly what it is projected to be hitting.
Individual offense
▪ 50+: Adam Duvall and Jesus Aguilar, with 56 and 51 RBI respectively, are one of two sets of teammates in the National League with at least 50 RBI apiece this season. The Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. (57) and Manny Machado (52) is the other.
▪ 12-3: Marlins record in games when Adam Duvall hits a home run.
▪ 10+: Starling Marte and Jazz Chisholm Jr., with 12 and 10 stolen bases respectively, are one of four sets of teammates in the National League with at least 10 stolen bases apiece. The others: The Padres’ Tatis (17) and Tommy Pham (12); the Colorado Rockies trio of Trevor Story (14), Garrett Hampson (12) and Raimel Tapia (11); and the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr (16) and Ozzie Albies (13).
Team fielding
▪ 78: Double plays by the Marlins defense, tied for the fourth-most in MLB.
▪ 19: Assists by Marlins outfielders, second behind only the Red Sox’s 26.
Individual fielding
▪ 13: Defensive runs saved by Adam Duvall, the most of any qualified outfielder according to Fangraphs.
▪ 5.4: Miguel Rojas’ defensive rating according to Fangraphs. That’s the fifth highest among shortstops. His four defensive runs saved are also tied for fourth.
This story was originally published July 4, 2021 at 10:02 AM.
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