Posted October 2, 200717 yr I'm interested in seeing a "board" answer to this as it seems many are conflicted in their view. I'll refrain from posting my opinion so as to not influence the polling and let someone else get the ball rolling. Perhaps another way to think of this question: If we can only fix one for next year, which is more important to fix, the pitching or the defense?
October 2, 200717 yr Our pitching cost us a lot mor runs than our defense. Say what you want about our defense but we still had the third worst FIP and the worst LD%. Both accounts sucked but pitching is more impactful than defense.
October 2, 200717 yr Pitching for sure but defense also costs us dearly. We allowed 79 more earned runs than the league average and allowed 38 more unearned runs than the league average. Of course on top of that we allowed many runs that ended up as "earned" but were allowed due to poor defensive plays that were not classified as errors. Defense matters.
October 2, 200717 yr I'm not sure the problem is with the "Pitching"...I think the right guys are all already here, they all have the stuff to be MLB pitchers. They just need to mature and more importantly, get healthy. Hopefully the new pitching coach can help turn that around. Defense however, is just plain bad, and I don't see it getting better next year (except behind the plate).
October 2, 200717 yr If you ask the wrong questions you get the wrong answers. Fixing the defense and having bad pitching isn't going to help any more than bad defense behind good pitching will.
October 2, 200717 yr Good defense is complementary. Bad defense is overrated. Good starting pitching wins games. Bad starting pitching is irreparable. Yeah, pitching is more at blame. Who picked defense?
October 2, 200717 yr Defense can be fixed with the right coach and a little hard work. Pitching is a little bit more difficult.. If the Marlins hope for any kind of sniff at the postseason next season, it must start with pitching. If the Marlins can managed to win 71 with this patched together starting five, imagine what they can accomplish with five solid starting pitchers? :mis2
October 2, 200717 yr Defense can be fixed with the right coach and a little hard work. Pitching is a little bit more difficult.. If the Marlins hope for any kind of sniff at the postseason next season, it must start with pitching. If the Marlins can managed to win 71 with this patched together starting five, imagine what they can accomplish with five solid starting pitchers? :mis2 The problem is, our projected rotation isn't too impressive right now. 1. D-Train? 2. Sergio Mitre 3. Scott Olsen 4. Ricky Nolasco? 5. Rick Vanden Hurk
October 2, 200717 yr Author My opinion? Pitching. No other team was as bad as we are in all the team categories. Dead last in ERA, complete games (0) staff shut-outs, quality starts, second to last in earned runs, last in runs, far and away the worst in walks (661 no other team had 600) and the second worst batting average against (.285 to Pittsburgh's .288). Of those stats named only runs does not reflect defensive inability. Everything else (especially walks) is all on the pitcher and immune to defensive short-comings thanks to the statistical cataloging of baseball.
October 3, 200717 yr Well, if the question is which was a bigger problem in 2007, the answer is pitching. But if it's which one we need to work harder to fix for 2008, I think the answer is defense. Like I said above, I think the talent we have both on the MLB roster and on the farm is more than enough as far as pitching talent. We just need to get healthy and a better pitching coach imo. I would much rather see us go out and try to improve the defense in CF and behind the plate.
October 3, 200717 yr I'd say it's really close but yeah, pitching.. Injuries did hurt, but the replacements probably could have done better.
October 3, 200717 yr Pitching of course. But I don't really love this poll Swift. It makes it seem like defense is not important. Defense has a big impact on pitching yet pitching has little impact on defense. We really need to stop minimalizing how atrocious our defense is.
October 3, 200717 yr Our pitching had us out of games faster than Miguel Cabrera could botch up plays at 3rd base by far that is the team's biggest weakness. Bad defense just made our pitching worse than it already was to start. How bad was our pitching? BYK was our best starter and we released him.
October 3, 200717 yr Author Pitching of course. But I don't really love this poll Swift. It makes it seem like defense is not important. Defense has a big impact on pitching yet pitching has little impact on defense. We really need to stop minimalizing how atrocious our defense is. I'm lost where it makes it seem that defense is unimportant. Because pitching is exponentially a greater concern doesn't have anything to do with defense. Maybe if our starters weren't walking batters at an epic rate, defense would be more to blame, but we're giving up a ton of EARNED runs.
October 3, 200717 yr Defense, without it there is a hugh toll it takes on any pitcher, both mentally and physically. Pitchers try to throw the perfect pitch, they throw extra pitches not allowing them to go deep in games, the batters see more pitches making it easier for them. Poor defense can not be minimized, if grossly effects all parts of the game.
October 3, 200717 yr I choose option number three- injuries. Every team has injuries. Its the good teams that over come them..
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