Watch out for mighty Marlins

 

Florida could end Braves' reign atop NL East

 

The teams in the National League East have been bunched together through the season's first three weeks, signaling the kind of overall quality that makes the division the toughest in baseball.

 

But the Florida Marlins have shown they are the one team capable of breaking away from that pack.

 

And not just because the Atlanta Braves have looked vulnerable.

 

Finding a significant flaw on the Marlins is harder than finding a snow shovel in South Florida.

 

The starting pitching has been dominant -- Florida already has five complete games compared to a combined two for the rest of the teams in the division -- and it is only made better by a superb defense, especially on the infield.

 

The offense has speed at the top, pop in the middle and the balance it has lacked in the past with the left-hitting Carlos Delgado now batting cleanup.

 

It is tempting to predict the Marlins will approach 100 wins and end the Braves' reign atop the NL East.

 

Of course, the depth in the division and injuries might have something to say about that.

 

Blisters, not big-league hitters, have prevented Josh Beckett from fulfulling his enormous potential. A.J. Burnett, another flamethrower with great stuff, also has been injury-prone during his career.

 

If those two stay healthy and Dontrelle Willis continues pitching like the rookie sensation who baffled hitters in 2003, Florida's starting rotation will be the best in baseball.

 

And one that not only gives the Marlins a chance to dominate in the regular season but also win in the postseason.

 

Through its first 18 games, Florida had allowed a major-league-low 48 runs.

 

That's less than three runs a game, not nearly enough on average to beat a team that has speedsters Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo at the top of the order and Miguel Cabrera, Delgado and Mike Lowell in the middle.

 

The Marlins have won the World Series twice since their inception in 1993 but they have yet to win a division title.

 

They are off to a good start toward changing that. Shortstop falling short. Vinny Castilla has ranked among the NL leaders in batting and slugging percentage.

 

Jose Guillen has ranked among the big-league leaders in home runs while Esteban Loaiza has been serviceable if not spectacular in the middle of the Washington Nationals' starting rotation.

 

As for shortstop Cristian Guzman, the other and most expensive of general manager Jim Bowden's offseason acquisitions, he has been a flop.

 

Guzman, who signed a four-year deal with Washington for almost $17 million, went into Saturday hitting more than 50 points below his listed playing weight.

 

That is 205 pounds, which has made the former Minnesota Twin a major drain on Washington's offense.

 

Manager Frank Robinson dropped him to eighth in the lineup after the slow start. But he recently returned Guzman to the second slot in an attempt to boost Guzman's flagging confidence.

 

"He hit .274 last year," Robinson said recently. "He's going to hit."

 

Guzman hasn't hit yet in part because of the same free-swinging approach that got projected leadoff hitter and center fielder Endy Chavez demoted to Triple-A New Orleans during spring training.

 

Unlike Chavez and the outfield, the Nationals don't have any other options at shortstop.

 

No shortstop in the minor-league system is close to being ready for the majors, and utility infielder Jamey Carroll doesn't have the range to play the position regularly.

 

Guzman, batting eighth again, collected two hits in Saturday's 10-5 loss to the New York Mets, rasing his average more than 20 points to .169.

 

Hey, it's a start. Getting in step. Here's wondering how dangerous the Phillies would be if they could ever get Pat Burrell and Jim Thome going at the same time.

 

Burrell, the former University of Miami star, struggled during much of Thome's first two years in Philadelphia.

 

This season, Burrell has gotten off to a torrid start. And Thome? It took one of baseball's most feared power hitters 68 at-bats to hit his first homer of the season.

 

Even more unbelievable: After going 0 for 4 during a 4-2 loss to the Marlins on Saturday, Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. is still looking for his first home run of 2005. Pinch hits. There is no truth to the rumor that John Smoltz is suing his teammates for a lack of support. The right-hander would have a case considering the Braves have scored a grand total of two runs in his four starts.

 

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...334/1061/SPORTS

Once Lowell gets going, the offense should compensate for the pitching staff eventually coming back down to earth. If we keeping winning 2 of 3 games, we will be doing great. The Braves will not be easy to leave behind with that pitching staff though.

 

 

I also think Burell did something to steal Lowell's mojo.

Once Lowell gets going, the offense should compensate for the pitching staff eventually coming back down to earth. If we keeping winning 2 of 3 games, we will be doing great. The Braves will not be easy to leave behind with that pitching staff though.

 

 

I also think Burell did something to steal Lowell's mojo.

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The Braves pitching will also fall back to earth as well. We are leading the league in runs allowed, and given the quality of our BP that could persist throughout the season.

 

Sure Lowell needs to get going, but overall we have a very nice team BA at .272, thanks to the unexpectedly good hitting from Encarnacion and LoDuca. Possibly Delgado could be added to the list as he is hitting .333.

 

As the article states, we are very balanced and it's difficult to find a glaring weakness.

Finding a significant flaw on the Marlins is harder than finding a snow shovel in South Florida.

 

 

:lol

 

I love that :notworthy

Once Lowell gets going, the offense should compensate for the pitching staff eventually coming back down to earth. If we keeping winning 2 of 3 games, we will be doing great. The Braves will not be easy to leave behind with that pitching staff though.

 

 

I also think Burell did something to steal Lowell's mojo.

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i agree that the marlins are doing great if they keep winning 2 games of 3 but i think lowell will be in that slump for a while

I hate to be a damper here, but...

 

 

They said the same thing last year... :plain

 

*runs*

I hate to be a damper here, but...

 

 

They said the same thing last year... :plain

 

*runs*

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exactly... and right around this time too..

 

the team we should still be concerned above everyone else is the Braves, especially when they have their annual 28-6 run in the middle of the summer. While we need to continue to smack down everyone else, we HAVE to play better against the Braves.

 

Our pitching will get worse, and our offense will get better, and the same thing is true about the Braves.

I hate to be a damper here, but...

 

 

They said the same thing last year... :plain

 

*runs*

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Last year we didn't have Delgado, our starters were riddled with injuries, and we had an extremely weak bullpen except for Benitez and despite all this we remained in the WC race up until about 5 days before the season ended, if we had Delgado and our pitchers were healthy, we probably would have been able to get over the hump.

 

Can't forget about the Hurricanes either.

The Marlins will not win the division because somehow the Braves will magically appear at the top of the standings. However, the wildcard is very winnable with the Cubs sucking.

I hate to be a damper here, but...

 

 

They said the same thing last year... :plain

 

*runs*

754038[/snapback]

Last year we didn't have Delgado, our starters were riddled with injuries, and we had an extremely weak bullpen except for Benitez and despite all this we remained in the WC race up until about 5 days before the season ended, if we had Delgado and our pitchers were healthy, we probably would have been able to get over the hump.

 

Can't forget about the Hurricanes either.

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Ok, you win...

 

And I only say this because I want us to win the East, and have no reasons why we shouldn't. :thumbup

I think that Lowell is going to be the key to winning the division, because I think that as long as our pitching is healthy they are going to win us games, but we need Mikey to pick it up and make the offense that much more dangerous.

The key word is here is could. After last season, seeing is believing when it comes to someone toppling the Braves.

I'm not sure whar conclusions one can draw from last season with the freakish September schedule that destroyed any chance for the Fish to make the playoffs.

 

Yes they lost yesterday, but that's baseball. Moehler (can someone please tell the local radio guys on 790 and 560 that there's no "d" in his name, it's not "Moehlder") gets better start after start (and yes he will stumble somewhere along the line, all pitchers do), Valdez is going to be available at some point, hopefully (fingers crossed, hoping but not optimistic) Spooney is back in form by the end of July, Jones and Mecir have done well, and sooner or later Lowell has to come around.

 

I like this team. I'll take two out of three in every series and look forward to October.

(can someone please tell the local radio guys on 790 and 560 that there's no "d" in his name, it's not "Moehlder")

 

Maybe there's some wishful thinking that we got Mark Mulder instead of the Cards.

 

:whistle