linkmaster

Hey. I was wondering how everyone thinks the Marlins will perform in the 2nd half of the season. Here is my mid-season recap, and my predictions for the 2nd half: Marlins Mid-Season Recap 1st Half record: 37-44 Projected 162-game record: 74-88 Offense: The young Marlins bats have dispatched the idea of being one-year wonders with some strong results again in 2007. Dan Uggla has pounded out 50 RBI's and 30 doubles after his magical rookie year in 2006. Josh Willingham has driven in 48 runs while Henley Ramirez hit .320 in the first half as the table setter of the offense. Franchise player Miguel Cabrera rounds out the talented group with a .328 average and 57 RBI's. Pitching: As good as the Florida offense has been, the pitching has been a different matter. After having a rotation of live, young arms a year ago, the Marlins have had all kinds of rotation problems in 2007. 2006 standouts Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez have been limited to only nine starts in 2007. Sanchez is out for the year with an injury while Johnson is back on the DL. Lefties Dontrelle Willis and Scott Olsen have lacked consistency with E.R.A.'s near five. Sergio Mitre has been the bright spot in the rotation with a 2.75 E.R.A. The overworked bullpen has also been exposed at times this year. Kevin Gregg has been a nice addition in the closing role. He is a perfect 15-of-15 in save chances. 1st Half Stats and Notes: The Marlins are 16-25 at home this season...Florida is 25-14-2 to the over at home this season...The Marlins are 5-0 to the over in Byung-Hyun Kim's five home starts. Better or Worse in 2nd half? Better. Florida is 5-3 to start the second half. While this club will have trouble getting into the playoff race, there is enough young talent on this roster to improve on a disappointing first half. The everyday lineup should get only better as the inexperienced Marlins continue to gain more confidence with each game. However, the rotation is very questionable going down the stretch. The pitching problems are likely to offset the quality offensive production in the second half. The end result will have Florida treading around the .500 mark by the end of the year but with some optimism for 2008 if the young arms can rebound next year.

I think the Marlins, much like the Indians a few years ago, are on the right track. The Fish has talent. It just a matter of the team coming together. Here's an article that agrees: "There?s talent on this club and touted talent at that. Seriously, if the Marlins play .500 baseball for a decent stretch, they?ll return some serious cash at sweet underdog prices. They don?t really have the veterans that can weigh down a team that?s going to have a brutal record..." The rest of the article is here