Four telling stats from Miami Marlins’ 0-4 start to season
The Miami Marlins know there is a long season ahead of them. One series is not going to define them.
But for the time being, they also know where they stand. They are 0-4 after getting swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates to begin the season. It’s the first time since 2001 that the Marlins began a season 0-4, although Miami did go 1-4 to begin last season before figuring things out and ultimately making an unexpected run to the playoffs.
“We have another series. This is baseball. We’re going to lose, we’re going to win,” veteran outfielder Avisail Garcia said. “This is not going to last forever. So we’ve just got to keep working and believe in ourselves.”
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at how the Marlins got to 0-4, closing the door on the Pirates series before they begin a three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.
▪ 16: Total innings thrown by starting pitchers in the series.
Jesus Luzardo went five innings on Thursday and Trevor Rogers pitched five as well on Sunday. Coincidentally enough, those were the two games Miami was best positioned to win, holding leads of 5-2 and 6-4 when the starter came out.
In the other two games, A.J. Puk was pulled before logging an out in the third inning on Friday as his command eluded him, and Ryan Weathers only threw four innings on Saturday as the Pirates ran up his pitch count in his final two frames of work.
This resulted in an overtaxed bullpen and the Marlins needing at least one reliever to pitch at least three innings in three of the four games — Declan Cronin pitched the 10th through 12th on Thursday, Bryan Hoeing threw four innings Friday and Vladimir Gutierrez tossed four innings Sunday.
Marlins relievers have combined to throw 24 innings through four games. That’s second in MLB behind only the San Diego Padres (28 1/3) and Los Angeles Dodgers (27), both of whom have played two more games.
“I know every single one of the guys in there is not happy being 0-4 right now,” Rogers said, “but it’s the beautiful thing about baseball: We’ve got 150-plus games to go, so we’ll get it tightened up and we’ll get rolling.”
▪ 2: Total runs scored against the Pirates’ bullpen.
The Marlins last year were one of the best teams when it came to scoring late. They scored 252 runs in the seventh inning or later in the 2023 season, the fifth-most in the National League despite ranking last in the NL overall in total runs scored.
Through four games this year, the Marlins have scored just two runs in the seventh inning or later.
▪ .225: Batting average for Marlins hitters not named Jake Burger with runners in scoring position
Burger was one of Miami’s high points in the Pirates series. The corner infielder, who split time between third base and first base, hit .438 (7 for 16) with one double, six RBI and four runs scored. He went 4 for 6 with runners in scoring position as well.
The rest of the Marlins’ offense went just 7 for 31 when there were runners on second and third base.
Overall, Miami stranded 28 runners on base through the first four games — 10 on Thursday, eight on Friday and five apiece Saturday and Sunday.
▪ 44: Number of groundouts by Marlins hitters.
Through the first weekend of the season, the Marlins are hovering around league average when it comes to average exit velocity (88.9 mph, tied for 13th in MLB) and hard-hit rate 40.2 percent (18th in MLB).
But they are failing to elevate the ball. That is resulting in a slew of ground balls and thus limits their chances to be productive.
Miami’s 44 groundouts are the second-most in all of MLB so far this season, behind the 55 by the Padres, who have played two more games than Miami. Their average launch angle of just 9.4 degrees is the fifth-worst in baseball.
The Marlins also hit into seven double plays in the first two games of the Pirates series.
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