Making the MVP case for Giancarlo Stanton
Giancarlo Stanton, right fielder for the Miami Marlins, was on pace for the National League Most Valuable Player award in 2014. Then he suffered a facial injury as a result of being hit by a baseball and the team fell out of wild card contention, opening the door for Clayton Kershaw, starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the award. The coming season presents another, and even more likely, chance for Stanton to finish what he started.
Stanton has fully recovered from his injury and should have full confidence at the plate despite his injury. He is wearing a new custom-fit batting helmet that protects his face. His confidence in the team around him should also be boosted after signing the largest contract in professional sports history and Miami made several off-season moves to improve the roster.
The tablesetters for Stanton have improved for 2015…
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Marlins Rising Recap: Derek “Double-D” Dietrich goes yard to defeat the Nats 2-1
Game Recap:
In a matchup that featured two new off-season acquisitions getting the starting nod in Max Scherzer for the Nationals, and Dan Haren for the Marlins. The game went as predicted. A dazzling pitcher’s duel between those two starters to start the game, combined with excellent bullpen work by both teams. Set up for Dietrich’s walk-off blast in the 9th, lifting the Marlins to a 2-1 victory over the Nationals on Tuesday afternoon at Roger Dean Stadium.
Box Score:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| WSH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| MIA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
W: S. Dyson
L: B. Billings
Red’s Recap:
Marlins Rising:
Dan Haren
- 25 of 35 pitches thrown for strikes; Faced one batter over the minimum for 3 innings of work. Keeping hitters at bay with his pin point control all afternoon, allowing just 1 hit while picking his way through the Nats line up, tallying 3 strikeouts too boot! Rebounding in a big way from his start last week. Who said this soft-tosser was ready to retire?
Tom Koehler
- Steady as he goes. Not pretty, but not bad. The always not-so shabby Koehler worked another TK like 2 innings. Contributing one walk and one strikeout to his stat line while allowing zero earned runs. Picking up exactly where he left off last season. As he continues to battle for his spot in the rotation.
A.J Ramos
- 3 strikeouts in one inning of work, while allowing one hit. Enough said. The kids still got it! Cishek might want to watch his back if he is going to be giving up more HRs to Dan Uggla with Ramos pitching like this.
Dee Gordon
- Leadoff bunt single to start the game, steals second on the next pitch and is driven in by Christian Yelich’s RBI single to center. This is exactly why we got him. Get on, and flash those wheels!
Derek Dietrich
- After coming off the bench midway through the game to replace Dee Gordon, Double-D came up big. Blasting a huge walk-off homer to LF. All you can really say here. What he lacks in his glove on the field, he makes up for when he connects like this at the plate. Hang with um muscles!
Marlins Falling:
Giancarlo Stanton
- 0/3 at the plate; killed a first inning rally by grounding into a bases clearing double play. While K’ing up swinging twice in his next two plate appearances. It’s not easy rocking the big G at the plate.
Jeff Mathis
- 0/3 at the plate; striking out swinging once, and hit a weak fly ball and ground ball for outs to round out his day, as he left 4 runners on base. Don’t make it too easy for Salty, Mathis!
Steve Cishek
- Who did he let hit an RBI double off of him? Oh, that’s right, it was Dan Uggla. Remember that guy Dan Uggla, Steve? Ya, thought you did, shame on you.
Up Next: Mets vs. Marlins today at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL. First pitch is slated for 1:05 pm as aces Matt Harvey and Henderson Alvarez get the starting nod. Make sure to check back in tomorrow at www.marlinsrising.com to get your full marlins recap of whose stock is rising and whose is falling.
Follow Jason Tate on twitter @MarlinsRising and at http://www.marlinsrising.com to recieve news and analysis on the Miami Marlins.
Dietrich Hits Walkoff Homer As Marlins Defeat Nationals 2-1
Nats vs. Marlins — 3/10/15
How the NL East Stacks Up in 2015
Spring training is starting, our favorite players are suiting up for the first time in months and every team has a sense that this could be their year. It’s almost baseball season.
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JOSE AND HARVEY
With staff aces Jose Fernandez of the Marlins and Matt Harvey of the Mets both working their way back from Tommy John surgery, I was struck by some of the statistical similarities (and some of the differences) in their careers to date, with both pitchers entering 2015 having made exactly 36 major league starts.
In looking at the numbers, remember that Jose, who was drafted out of high school, will only be 22-years-old on Opening Day, while Harvey–a college draft pick–will be 26 when the season begins.
CAREER TOTALS THROUGH 36 MAJOR LEAGUE STARTS
FERNANDEZ 16-8, 2.25 ERA…224.1 IP, 5.9 H/9 IP, 2.8 BB/9 IP, 10.3 K/9 IP, 0.972 WHIP
.183 AVG, .253 OBP, .273 SLG, .525 OPS
HARVEY 12-10, 2.39 ERA…237.2 IP, 6.7 H/9 IP, 2.2 BB/9 IP, 9.9 K/9 IP, 0.985 WHIP
.207 AVG, .260 OBP, .296 SLG, .556 OPS
While Harvey has averaged more innings…
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Rough Outing for Wheeler
ESPN — Zack Wheeler had the most pitches per plate appearance among qualified pitchers in the National League last season at 4.17. His first Grapefruit League attempt to refine his control went poorly.
After a perfect, 10-pitch first inning, Wheeler hit a wall in the second. He hit two batters, walked two others and threw 37 pitches in the frame before Terry Collins pulled him with two outs and the bases loaded. Prospect Chasen Bradford allowed all three inherited runners to score, so Wheeler was charged with six earned runs in 1 2/3 innings
Yeeeeeeeah this one was tough to watch. I know, I know. It was his first outing and I’m overreacting and blah blah blah, but he had control issues last year. That was the biggest problem, even with his really good second half. It would have been cool if he had a deGrom or Harvey-like first start…
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Marlins Rising Recap: Phelps Shines in the Marlins 13-2 over the Mets
1:10 PM ET, March 9, 2015
Tradition Field, Port St. Lucie, Florida
Game Recap:
David Phelps comes out pounding the strike zone, proving again why he is still a contender for the 5th spot in the Marlins rotation. While the Marlins offense waited patiently enough allowing Zach Wheeler to make his own mistakes, sparking the Marlins to a comfortable 13-2 victory over the New York Mets on Monday afternoon at Tradition Field.
Marlins Rising:
David Phelps
- 9/12 1st pitch strikes, 2 K, 3 H, 1 ER, NIL BB in 3 IP; pounded the strike zone all day resulting in one 3-Ball count all afternoon summing up his use of all 51 pitches. Shine on Baby!
Phelps dealing up David Wright
Aaron Crow
- Allowed 1 Hit over 2 IP; Mowed down the Mets hitters with a hammer-time curveball.
Nick Masset
- 3/3 1st pitch strikes, 0 H, 0 K, 0 ER, 0 BB; as plain Jayne as we like to see it coming out of the pen. This guy is raising brows in a hurry so far this spring.
Andrew McKirahan
- Despite starting the 9th shell shocked giving up a lead-off walk, followed by a double off the wall. He let is his sack drag by regaining focus to K 2 out of the next three batters and freeze runners in scoring position.
Reid Brignac
- 3/4 at the plate, coming up clutch early driving in 4 runs with two singles, and hitting a third single in his final at bat just to make it look easy. Pimpin ain’t easy!
One of Brignac’s many singles on the day
Jordany Valdespin
- 2/4 at the plate, a weak hustle single and a laser rip down the RF line for a triple combining for 3 RBIs on the day. Showing serious bench junkie potential.
Valdy’s infield Single
Valdy’s triple down LF Line
Avery Romero
- 1/2 at the plate, HUGE yoke style bomb hit over the LF wall in 1st Despite chasing dust on a curveball in the dirt during his 2nd AB, that HR stats why he is where he is. Stay Hot Kid!
Avery’s 3-Run Bomb
Marlins Falling:
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
- 1/3 at the plate, besides smoking a single the opposite way through the 6 hole, he looked his same defeated self at the plate K’ing twice in his first two plate appearances on down & in sliders. Can someone teach Pedro Cerrano how to hit a curveball?
Salty & The Whiff
Don Kelly
- 0/3 at the plate, looking the usual old being burnt up inside for 2 k’s early in the game while everyone else is drawing walks or driving people in, he was reserving a sit on the Triple-A bus for the upcoming season.
Michael Dunn
- Escaped location problems tossing a shut out 7th inning getting knocked for just one hit. The curveball though, couldn’t catch the chalk on either side of the plate. You’re not irreplaceable, just saying!
Upcoming: Miami vs. Nationals today at 1:05 PM, also make sure to check back in daily at www.marlinsrising.com to find out which players stock is rising and whose is falling for the Miami Marlins.
NL East Outlook
NL East Outlook
Washington Nationals- 1st NL East
The Washington Nationals were one of the best teams in baseball last year and this year should be the same. The adding of Max Scherzer shows that they are not playing around. The starting rotation is going to be tough for opposing hitters and the bullpen will be just as difficult. The offense should be pretty good as well. Look for Ian Desmond to have a great year along with Jason Werth. Bryce Harper needs to have a great year to help carry this team to the World Series. The one issue with this team is that they have been this good the last few years but haven’t been able to win it all. Will they break this trend or will they continue to disappoint in the postseason.
New York Mets- 2nd NL East
The Mets have struggled in recent…
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Marlins Rising 