It’s awfully difficult to change the culture in an organization that hasn’t made the playoffs in 12 years (second-longest drought in baseball), was 110 games under .500 over the past six, and witnessed all seven of its minor league affiliates finish in last place in 2015. But the Marlins, despite a poor effort tonight in a sloppy 10-2 loss to Milwaukee, are slowly taking encouraging steps.

 

Player procurement and performance will always be paramount in a team’s success, and the Marlins who are thriving (Martin Prado, Giancarlo Stanton, AJ Ramos, Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich, among others) deserve credit foremost for the ongoing stretch of 12 wins in 16 games, leaving Miami at 17-15 after tonight's setback.

 

But behind the scenes, other factors are helping internally, from top to bottom:

 

• Don Mattingly’s hiring. Of Jeffrey Loria’s eight managerial hires since Jack McKeon, this has the potential to rank as his best.

 

“He’s amazing,” Jose Fernandez said. “I love his passion. I love the environment he has [created]. He’s like a friend, is always going to have your best interests in mind.”

 

Partly because of the tone Mattingly has set, Fernandez seems happier than ever before. “I am in love with this team,” Fernandez said.

 

So what is Mattingly doing specifically? He didn’t flip on his players, or yell at them at all, or call any you-better-get-your-act-together meetings, after a 5-11 start.

 

“The steadiness he brings is comforting to a lot of people in here,” catcher Jeff Mathis said, adding Mattingly’s hiring “has been good for everybody here. He brings the same energy and attitude every day and that’s something that was needed in this locker-room.”

 

Pitcher David Phelps put it this way: “Donnie doesn’t lose his emotions. He keeps his cool. He had a very quiet confidence about him in the spring. You can tell the difference here; guys aren’t hanging their heads if we’re losing. You can’t have a team riding highs and lows. That carries over to players and [is bad for] a young team.”

 

The other factor with Mattingly, Mathis said, is “the attention to detail. There’s a huge list of small things” that are being emphasized now, from base-running fundamentals, to handling a pitching staff. Chris Johnson said he never spent more time in spring training on fundamentals than he did this year under Mattingly.

 

• The addition of pitching savant Jim Benedict as a special assistant. The Marlins thought so much of him that they traded a pretty good pitching prospect, Trevor Williams, to acquire Benedict from the Pirates.

 

Benedict, in his behind-the-scenes role as a roving pitching guru, has made a difference with several of the Marlins’ young arms.

 

"He gave me tips on my delivery to make me more efficient,” said AJ Ramos, who has a 1.38 earned-run average. Kyle Barraclough watched his minor-league tape with Benedict last month, made a minor mechanical adjustment at Benedict’s urging and has a 1.64 ERA since his promotion.

 

• A re-commitment to the minor league system. The Marlins made a smart move in luring Marc Delpianofrom the Pirates to run the team’s farm system, and a Marlins minor league official cited several changes that have followed.

 

Among them: “We’re spending more money. [President/baseball operations] Mike Hill and everybody stepped up. We redid the batting cages [at the minor-league facility in Jupiter]. The video room is better equipped now. We used to have to retrieve balls in minor-league camp; now they’re spending more on baseballs. We have a full-time independent league scout for the first time.”

 

Another thing also struck that Marlins minor-league official: “People are being held accountable now, and it’s refreshing. We’ve been told, and this comes from the top, to hold players and ourselves to higher standards and demand excellence.

 

“If you don’t run hard 90 feet down the line, there must be consequences. We had a kid [in minor-league camp] who didn’t run hard to first in spring and he was sent to the other field to run. He was singled out and we made an example of him.

 

“It’s playing the game the right way that we’re teaching. There’s no doubt we had a depletion of talent in the minors. But there also needed to be a culture change here, and it’s happening.”

 

So far, the Marlins’ minor league teams are 51-71, with one of the four teams in last place. So there's much work that remains.

 

This front office needs to draft well; there is a dearth of high-end position player prospects above the low-level minors. And it must replenish the pitching pipeline now that Adam Conley and Justin Nicolino are in the majors and others (such as Andrew Heaney) were used in trades.

 

But the early signs are encouraging.

 

“The message,” that Marlins official said, is “we’re not going to leave any stone unturned” in finding and developing players.

 

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/

 

Today's column in the Herald... good to read some positivity...

 

 

Jose in love with this team. That is what I liked the most.

 

 

It's awfully tough to change the culture of an organization. ha!

 

 

Not being in the bottom three in payroll might change the culture.

 

 

This article will be fun to.read in.3 years after Mattingly has been fired following 3 below par seasons

 

 

This article will be fun to.read in.3 years after Mattingly has been fired following 3 below par seasons

 

LOL at him lasting 3 seasons

 

 

And yet Mike Hill remains, you know the guy who was technically in charge of the entire organization.

 

Fantastic.  So the Marlins finally realizing they cant be cheap at all levels of baseball is what it takes, who knew!!!!

 

I'll believe things have changed when they draft based on talent and not how to save the most money.

 

and stop trading their competitive balance pick every year.

 

 

• So far, the newer hitter-friendly dimensions at Marlins Park have resulted in five homers that wouldn’t have been last year: four for the opponent, one for Miami (Giancarlo Stanton), who said the change has made no difference at all…

 

I asked Stanton, who's cautious about getting excited after years of disappointment, if things are finally headed in the right direction here. He gave a measured response: “We’ve had a good month. We have to have a good first half.”… Incidentally, according to ESPN, only three teams have hit as many 450-foot homers as Stanton has since 2010 (31). Amazing.

 

Per Barry Jackson