Game 1 of this past series against the Phillies was of the upmost important, we needed to win, we had to win, yet AJ failed misserably.

 

Pitchers are not perfect, they are humans, not machines, and are going to have rough spots throughout the season and AJ seems to have hit a major bump. However, there are ocations when an individual has an opportunity to rise above the rest and make history, AJ had that chance: he blew it.

 

Let's think of the implications of his performance. The pitching matchup only favored the Marlins in the first game of the series, the other 2 games were started but what we can consider the weak links of our rotation, Jason Vargas and Ismael Valdes.

 

In a situation like this the team has to put an emphasis on the game in which it has the advantage, because in the other 2 games, specially in a hitter's park, it will be very difficult to win.

 

AJ ends up blowing the big first game big time, and all of a sudden you are down 0-1 in the series and are at a disadvantage pitching wise in the next two games. Fortunately, the Marlins were able to salvage one of those games and lose a respectable 1-2, instead of an embarrasing 3-0. However, had AJ done his job, had the Marlins gotten the win they were supposed to get on paper we would be looking at a 2-1 victory and pretty much close the door on the Phillies' season.

 

So I say, stick a fork on AJ, let him collect his paycheck elsewhere.

I don't care about next year. AJ is a Marlin for the rest of the season, and both he and the Marlins players have the same goal: win the whole freaking thing.

 

He set a very bad tone for the series, but the Marlins bats sure didn't come out on fire after an emotional win in game 2...the whole team flat out stunk.