As Soler and Garcia begin to hit, Miami Marlins hope to move past a troublesome trend
A six-pack of Miami Marlins notes on a Monday:
▪ We finally saw signs of life from free agent pickups Jorge Soler and Avisail Garcia against the Braves during the weekend, with Soler going 4 for 13 with an RBI and Garcia going 3 for 14 with 2 RBI.
But it has been a rough start for both outfielders. Soler is hitting .190 with a homer, three RBI and eight walks in 58 at-bats. Garcia is hitting .188 with a homer, four RBI and one walk in 48 at-bats.
That both have struggled to begin their Marlins careers is disappointing but hardly stunning.
Both have had wide variations in their batting averages and on-base percentages throughout their careers.
Soler, for example, hit .228 and .223 the past two seasons (2020 and 2021).
Garcia has ridden a roller coaster the past four seasons, hitting .236 in 2018, .282 in 2019, .238 in 2020 and .261 in 2021.
Both are talented and it’s obviously far too soon to make any judgments about their signings, with Garcia snagging a four- year, $53 million contract and Soler landing a three-year, $36 million deal with player options after the first two seasons.
There’s hope both will work out.
But…
Watching the Marlins’ two new sluggers struggling early, it was a reminder of how little success the Marlins have had with free agent bats during the past decade.
In the past 10 years, the Marlins signed 10 free agent position players from other teams to contracts worth $3 million or more.
Of those 10, seven of them became significantly worse players after signing here.
Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia — after signing a three-year, $21 million deal — went from hitting .273 with Boston in 2013 to .220 with the Marlins in 2014.
Shortstop Jose Reyes — who got the biggest deal in Marlins history at the time (six years, $106 million before 2012), went from hitting .337 in his final season with the Mets to .287 in his first with the Marlins.
First baseman Mike Morse (two years, $16 million) went from .279 with the Giants in 2014 to .213 with the Marlins in 2015 and was dealt to the Dodgers 53 games into his Marlins career.
Rafael Furcal (one year, $3 million) went from .264 with the Cardinals to .171 with the Marlins.
Ichiro Suzuki — who got $3.2 million in his first Marlins deal and $4 million in subsequent Marlins deals — went from .284 with the Yankees in 2014 to .229 with the Marlins in 2015.
Outfielder Corey Dickerson (two years, $17.5 million) went from .304 with the Phillies and Pirates in 2019 to .258 in his first year with the Marlins.
Jeff Baker (two years, $3.7 million) went from .279 with Texas to .264 and .208 in his two years as a Marlin.
An eighth of those 10 free agent pickups, Adam Duvall, saw his average slip a bit (.237 with the Braves in 2020 to .229 in 91 games with the Marlins last year — albeit with 22 homers — before being traded back to Atlanta).
Of the 10 new Marlins position players who received free agent deals of $3 million or more since 2012, only Garrett Jones (.233 to .246) and Cameron Maybin (.228 to .251) hit better in their first year as a Marlin. Jones got two years, $7.8 million, Maybin one year and $3.25 million.
So what the heck is going on here? Is this simply bad luck? Coincidence? The curse of Heath Bell?
In the cases of Ichiro, Furcal and Baker, the Marlins were getting players at the end of their careers.
Dickerson was dealing with a major family health issue during his time here.
The situations with Morse and Saltalamacchia were more difficult to figure out.
The Marlins also have made mistakes with free agent pitchers (Wei-Yin Chen, Bell, etc.), but their record with free agent hitters isn’t very good, spanning two ownership groups.
At least the Marlins, under Jeffrey Loria and Bruce Sherman, had success finding hitters through the draft (Giancarlo Stanton, etc.), waivers (Jesus Aguilar), trades (Jazz Chisholm, Jesus Sanchez, Garrett Cooper in recent years) and international free agency (Marcell Ozuna, etc.).
But the record with pure free agents — at $3 million plus — has been dubious for a decade. The Marlins must hope that changes with Soler and Garcia.
▪ The Jesus Luzardo trade that sent Starling Marte to Oakland looked dreadful in the immediate aftermath last season, but now it’s a transaction that can be viewed favorably, considering Marte was due to hit free agency and would have left this past offseason anyway.
Luzardo has been needed because injuries to Sixto Sanchez and Edward Cabrera created urgency for an effective fourth/fifth starter with Elieser Hernandez. And Luzardo has pitched very well in two of his three starts (including Sunday in Atlanta) and has a 3.77 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 14 innings.
Catcher Jacob Stallings has helped Luzardo. “I love working with Stallings; he always has a plan,” Luzardo said.
And Stallings said of Luzardo: “When he’s in the zone, he’s going to be really tough to hit with the stuff he has. I’m excited for him. When his mechanics are in line — that’s something he’s worked really hard on — and not trying to do too much and not trying to be too nasty is when he’s at his best.”
▪ When I asked Stallings whose stuff has pleasantly surprised him, he said Pablo Lopez. “I hadn’t seen him throw that much.”
Lopez’s 0.52 ERA leads the National League for pitchers who have made at least three starts.
▪ The Marlins were a poor team last year with runners in scoring position (,239; 24th in baseball) and runners in scoring position and two outs (.224, 15th) and they’re even worse so far this season.
They’re hitting .209 with runners in scoring position, which ranks 23rd overall and third worst in the National League.
They’re hitting .180 with two outs and runners in scoring position, which ranks 22nd.
At least there were signs of life over the weekend.
▪ With the National League implementing the designated hitter this season, Garrett Cooper has sought input from others about how to handle days when he’s a DH.
“As a DH, you can overthink hitting,” he said. “Hitting is the toughest thing in sports.”
He said he will go to the batting cage inside the bowels of the stadium to take swings during the game when he’s a DH. But he’s careful not to do it too much.
“A mix” of playing DH and first base “is cool,’” he said. “The DH was needed. You can extend the careers of a lot of guys who can hit. When the DH was [approved], I had 12 texts from my brother. On our team group chat, guys were saying you and [Jesus Aguilar] can play every day now.”
▪ The Heat’s Udonis Haslem and the Marlins’ Miguel Rojas both command respect of teammates as leaders and mature, grounded voices in their respective locker rooms.
So it’s not surprising they have a “good relationship,” Rojas said.
Haslem gave Rojas a pair of game-worn shoes when Rojas went to Heat game.
This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 5:01 PM.
