What went wrong for the Miami Marlins in May? Struggles in one key area speak volumes
It all started out so well. The Miami Marlins began the season with a 12-8 record over the first month of the season, the ninth-best record in baseball.
And then the calendar turned to May, and it quickly unraveled.
With the Marlins game against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday postponed due to inclement weather, Miami finished May with just a 7-19 record — the worst record in the league this month. The game will be made up in a doubleheader Wednesday starting at 3:10 p.m.
So what has gone wrong? Kim Ng summed it up simply.
“There have been times,” the general manager said, “where we just haven’t gotten that big hit.”
Clutch hitting has definitely been the Marlins’ weak spot.
Consider this: Offensively, the Marlins finished May with a .700 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for the month. That was good for 20th in the league. Their .242 batting average was 18th. Their 31 home runs were tied for 15th.
Not incredible numbers by any means. But also certainly not numbers that project to a 7-19 record over 26 games.
The problem? Those offensive numbers aren’t showing up in runs scored. Miami scored just 104 runs over 26 games this month, an average of four runs per game. They scored three runs or fewer in 13 games this month. Their record in those 13 games? 0-13. Six of those 13 losses were by one run.
“Statistically and in rankings, we’ve done fairly well,” Ng said, “but it’s just those instances where you’re just not pushing that needed run across.”
This isn’t just a May issue, though.
Miami has a league-low .183 batting average this season in late and close situations, defined by MLB as plate appearances in the seventh inning or later when the batting team is either leading by one run, tied, or has the potential tying run on base, at bat, or on deck.
They are batting just .220 with runners in scoring position, the fourth-worst in baseball. That number drops to .198 when there are two outs.
They have 96 strikeouts in 437 plate appearances — a 22-percent rate — with runners on either second or third base.
“Your at-bats shouldn’t really change,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “I think the biggest thing to fight is that you put pressure on yourself. If our team’s not scoring, you put pressure on yourself — ‘I want to get this done, I want to get this done’ — and that’s probably not the best way to go about it.”
While the success hasn’t been there for the Marlins in key situations, the coaching staff is trying to express optimism to their hitters.
“It goes in waves,” hitting coach Marcus Thames said. “I tell our guys, I’d rather for us to keep getting guys out there and eventually it’s gonna happen. You don’t want guys putting pressure on themselves and at times when you’re losing ballgames, you get out there and you have a runner at third and nobody out, guys then go and they start swinging out of the strike. For me, it’s just do your job. Just control how you play. Show how you play. Don’t let the situation get to yourself. I feel like if we continue to get guys on base, and at the rate we’re doing good things are gonna happen for us.”
And on the rare days that the Marlins hitters are clicking, either the starting pitching or the bullpen (or both) seemingly has an off night.
“In my mind and I think in the staff’s mind,” Ng said, “we haven’t really hit on all cylinders with all three [hitting, starting pitching and relief pitching] for an extended period. There have been spots here and there, but you’d like to see that on a more consistent basis.”
Injuries haven’t helped, either.
The Marlins were without third baseman Joey Wendle for 14 games because of a right hamstring injury that flared up again on Monday. Second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. also missed four games with a hamstring injury. And utility player Jon Berti was out for nearly three weeks following a positive COVID-19 test. Third baseman/corner outfielder Brian Anderson is now dealing with back spasms, too.
Two months are in the books. And while the Marlins aren’t pushing the panic button yet, the time is going to arrive sooner than later when they are going to have to make a decision about the direction to club goes in for the rest of the season.
“You hope it does sync up,” Ng said. “I do believe it will sync up. It just has taken a little bit longer than we’d like. ... You just hope that it starts clicking soon.”
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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