Loria's Finally Gone ~ A Miami Marlins Franchise Series (MLB The Show 15)

[Number999]

Quote: Originally Posted by ItsKB

I'm following, love your Dolphins franchise, and from one South Floridian to another, go Marlins!

Hah appreciate the support man! Eventually I'll get around to doing a Florida Panthers franchise but I didn't purchase NHL 15 this year.

Quote: Originally Posted by Gronk4M13

Definitely following, I love your Heat 'chise, and the Marlins are a good team to do a franchise with.

Thanks so much man. I think I'll be able to maintain both of them at a decent rate unlike what happened to my Lions franchise since I got bored with Madden. and yea Marlins are looking solid this year hopefully! Felt like they kinda under-sold guys like Ozuna and Alvarez but I guess they've only had a year to prove themselves.

[Number999]

Marlins announce rotation, lineups

The Miami Marlins announced their 2015 starting rotation and lineups for the season (obviously subject to change throughout the season with trades and injuries). The rotation and lineups are as follows.

Starting Rotation:
#1. Jose Fernandez
#2. Mat Latos
#3. Henderson Alvarez
#4. Jarred Cosart
#5. Dan Haren

Bullpen: LRP Tom Koehler, MRP Bryan Morris, MRP Nick Masset, MRP Aaron Crow, SU AJ Ramos, SU Mike Dunn, CP Steve Cishek.

Overall nothing too stunning here by Mike Redmond or the rest of the Marlins coaching staff. Perhaps Alvarez should be ahead of Latos or Koehler ahead of Haren but at the start of the season all of this is fair. Perhaps as the season goes on the Marlins may seek to acquire a better bullpen arm because currently it's a little lackluster in that department. Now let's take a look at the starting lineups vs RHP and vs LHP lineups.

Starting Lineup vs RHP:
#1. Dee Gordon
#2. Christian Yelich
#3. Giancarlo Stanton
#4. Michael Morse
#5. Marcell Ozuna
#6. Martin Prado
#7. Adeiny Hechavarria
#8. J.T. Realmuto
#9. Pitcher

Bench: RF Ichiro Suzuki, C Jeff Mathis, 2B Donovan Solano, 3B Jeff Baker, LF Don Kelly

Starting Lineup vs LHP:
#1. Dee Gordon
#2. Martin Prado
#3. Marcell Ozuna
#4. Giancarlo Stanton
#5. Christian Yelich
#6. Michael Morse
#7. Adeiny Hechavarria
#8. J.T. Realmuto
#9. Pitcher

Bench: RF Ichiro Suzuki, C Jeff Mathis, 2B Donovan Solano, 3B Jeff Baker, LF Don Kelly

Overall like the starting lineup nothing too terribly stunning here. The lineup switches up a bit vs LHP with Prado jumping up to the #2 spot while Ozuna jumps up to the #3 slot but this is clear evidence that the Marlins really do believe in what Ozuna can become as a hitter. Other than that, not too many surprises. You may be looking at these lineups and wondering though, where is Saltlamacchia? Why is JT Realmuto in the lineups? Well....

[Number999]

Jarrod Saltalamacchia breaks shin in Spring Training

In a game on March 17th, 2015 vs the St. Louis Cardinals, Jarrod Saltalamacchia broke his chin during a spring training matchup and was thus taken out of the game by Marlins manager Mike Redmond following the concern. Many fans were curious how severe the damage was, but the news later broke by Marlins writer Joe Frasario on twitter saying that Salty broke his shin during game action.

The loss is a huge blow for Miami, as they'll now be without Salatlamacchia for the first 2 months of the season likely. Salty is expected to be used in the minor leagues and in rehab assignments towards the middle/end of May and eventually hopefully make a mid-season return during June, one of the most intense and thickest parts of the MLB season.

While the injury is a blow for Miami, it doesn't mean they can't take a positive out of this. What this now allows is the Marlins to give 24-year old catcher J.T. Realmuto the real chance to prove himself in the majors and establish himself a spot on the roster moving forward as a starter. He'll be replacing Saltalamacchia in the opening day lineup against the Atlanta Braves on April 6th.

When asked how he felt about the opportunity, JT was fairly neutral.

JT: "Of course I'm glad I get my chance to prove myself but it's not in the way I would have hoped. Of course we're all rooting for Salty to get back healthy as possible as soon as possible since he's a huge part to our team. I'm excited I get to start on opening day but I know I'll have to show what I'm made of in order to maintain that spot in the lineup."

Wise words by someone who only played in 29 MLB games last season.

[Number999]

Miami Marlins ~ 2015 Season Expectations

There are high expectations and numerous predictions on what people expect Miami to do this season. Some expect a resurgence and the Marlins have finally done something right and you're going to see so much change and positivity in 2015! While others believe the Marlins made many poor moves this offseason and made many mistakes and just aren't going to be all of anything really.... well I say to you person that I hope you're in-correct! But you can't be ignored, so let's take a look at what Miami expects for this season.

Disaster Expectation:
Record: Under 77 wins
Playoffs: Missed
Explanation: After spending 325M in the offseason, trading an abundance of talent for win-now assets like Latos, Prado, etc.. and trading away guys like Andrew Heaney... you finish with a record than you did in the 2014 campaign? Seriously? That would be a disaster of epic proportions for Miami. They can't allow that to happen and the players know that. While Loria is gone, Mark Cuban certainly won't stand for those sorts of standards for a team he runs and plans on winning an abundance amount with.

Poor Expectation:
Record: 80-82
Playoffs: Missed
Explanation: It's an improvement!.... but only by 3 wins. It's not over .500 which is expected for a team of this caliber. Dee Gordon has to produce and show all the nay-sayers that BAPIP wasn't the only reason for his success in Los Angeles. Stanton of course has to produce like a star and of course the veterans have to step up and show themselves worthy of what they were given up for to be brought in. In this scenario, none of these things happen and it leads to this sort of level of season.

Expectation:
Record: 87-75
Playoffs: Wildcard Round Exit?
Explanation: The distance between expectation and failure isn't really that much of a distance for Miami. They need to improve their record by 10 games in order to be worthy of all the adjustments they made. It may seem difficult and to some unreasonable, but after acquirng all those assets now Miami has to produce on the field. They're quite simply expected to get within the 90-win range in order to have a solid season. The question after this starts when people ask if this is enough to make the playoffs in MLB. 87 wins is great, but 88 was the minimum last year between the Athletics, Pirates, and of course Giants. The Mariners missed by 1-game with 87 wins, will this be viewed as a total failure?

Good Expectation:
Record: 90-72
Playoffs: Divisional Round Exit
Explanation: 90 wins would be an awesome season for the Marlins. They make the playoffs, and they prove all the nay-sayers wrong who doubted Dee and the rest of the Marlins youth such as Yelich or Ozuna. With this though, they'd need to finally get that bit of playoff extra boost... winning a huge 1-game wildcard would do that for Miami. They would fall in the Divisional Round but with all the youth improving no Marlins fan or baseball expert would call this season a down year for Miami.

Dream Expectation:
Record: 96-66
Playoffs: Championship Series Exit
Explanation: Improving their record by nearly 20 wins would be remarkable. Almost having 100 wins just 3 years removed from a massive firesale would be incredible. All the haters would simply have no response, and it'd be a huge boost for the Marlins in general with all the things that would come with going 96-66 and potentially... winning the division for the first time in Marlins history! Yup, the Marlins have 2 World Series rings but yet no division banners. I think the Nationals would trade those in for what Miami has though... regardless, if the Marlins did do that well they would have to follow it up with an impressive postseason which they could be capable of with all they're veterans and youth combination.

So those are the Miami Marlins 2015 Season expectations! Let's get on with Opening Day!

[Number999]

Fernandez injured, poor outing for Marlins

Atlanta Braves at Miami Marlins
Apr 6, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (0-0)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	4	1
Miami (0-0)	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	4	1
W: Julio Teheran (1-0) L: Jose Fernandez (0-1) S: Craig Kimbrel (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			ATL	MIA
ATL	1	Nick Markakis reached second on fielding error by Yelich, Young Jr. scores	1	0
ATL	1	Freddie Freeman grounded to center or a single, Markakis scores	2	0
ATL	1	Chris Johnson grounded to left for a single, Freeman scores	3	0
MIA	2	Martin Prado homers to left field	3	1
MIA	7	Martin Prado homers to left field	3	2

Atlanta Braves
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Eric Young Jr.	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.250
Nick Markakis	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	000
Freddie Freeman	4	1	1	1	1	0	0	.333
Johnny Gomes	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	000
AJ Pierzynski	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.250
Chris Johnson	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	.333
Andrelton Simmons	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	000
Alberto Callaspo	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	000
Julio Teheran	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	000
Jace Peterson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	000
Luis Avilan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	000
Craig Kimbrel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Miami Marlins
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Dee Gordon	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.250
Christian Yelich	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Giancarlo Stanton	3	0	0	0	1	3	0	.000
Michael Morse	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	.000
Marcell Ozuna	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Martin Prado	3	2	2	2	0	0	2	.667
Adeiny Hechavarria	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
JT Realmuto	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Jose Fernandez	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Tom Koehler	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Ichiro Suzuki	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000

Atlanta Braves
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Julio Teheran	7.0	3	2	2	1	8	2	2.57
Luis Avilan	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Craig Kimbrel	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00

Miami Marlins
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jose Fernandez	2.0	3	3	1	0	3	0	4.50
Tom Koehler	6.0	1	0	0	1	3	0	0.00
Nick Masset	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

Game Recap: Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. DAMMIT. Jose Fernandez suffered an injury in the top of the 3rd inning when pitching against the Atlanta Braves and had to be taken out oft he game. Fernandez struggled early on against the Braves with a poor 1st inning allowing 3 runs, of course some of that responsibility comes on Christian Yelich shoulders but regardless, not Fernandez-level results.

Cue the injury happening and Tommy Koehler coming in as Marlins fans are like... you kidding me??!?! Not even 3 innings in? Regardless, Koehelr was fairly dominant in his 6 innings he pitched. The Marlins offense on the other hand suffered. The only offense came from Martin Prado who had a fantastic debut hitting 2 home runs... he's on pace for 164 home runs!

Jokes aside, Miami's offense looked rusty and out of sorts. Perhaps they'll figure it out over time but this is a very disastrous start to the season depending on how severe Fernandez' injury is. In order for them to reach the postseason, you know he'll have to be usable.

[Number999]

Marlins relieved, Fernandez obtains only minor injury

MIAMI - The Miami Marlins had a rough outing on Opening Day of the 2015 Season. The offense struggled a large amount and the only one who truly showed up to play was 3B Martin Prado who blasted 2 home runs. Despite the 2-3 loss, that wasn't even the most concerning part of the game for Marlins fans, a much scarier note happened earlier in the game in the 3rd inning.

After a strike to the 1st better in the 3rd inning, Fernandez showed visible pain and the coaches came out to see what was up. After some discussion, Fernandez was taken out of the game and the ball was given to Tommy Koehler who performed admirably the next 6 innings for Miami.

Of course, Marlins fans #1 concern was Jose Fernandez health. Coming off of Tommy John Surgery last season, many Marlins fans had high hopes for his revival season. Fernandez struggled in the 1st inning allowing 3 runs (just 1 being earned though), and it led to the Marlins falling into a 2-3 hole early on. After a strong 2nd inning, it appeared it was mere jitters for Jose until of course the injury.

Luckily for Miami fans though, news was released that was what they wanted to hear. A mere minor lower back pain for Fernandez, which could come from the lack of real MLB action for the last 8+ months.

It is speculated Fernandez should only be out for 1-6 days, and while he could potentially miss his next start, it's much nicer information to hear than a major step-back for Miami an Fernandez. It is believed that Koehler will be responsible to fill-in for Fernandez should he miss his 2nd projected start, launching everyone else in the rotation to receive a small bump rotation wise.

The Marlins are set to continue the series vs the Braves on April 7th, 2015 at 7:10PM EST.

[Number999]

Marlins trade Derek Dietrich, acquire Aaron Loup

The Miami Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a trade in the early morning hours of Tuesday, the deal being the Marlins sending out 2B Derek Dietrich to the Toronto Blue Jays in return receiving RP Aaron Loup.

A straight 1-for-1 deal, it's an intriguing move by Miami. They pick up a solid left-handed reliever for the bullpen which was clearly a need for them considering Mike Dunn was the only left-hander in the bullpen previously. At just 27-years old, Loup only has 2 years of MLB service essentially and has a fairly small frame for a pitcher at 5'11".

As for the Marlins shipping out Dietrich, it's clear evidence the Marlins are confident in Dee Gordon being the guy here long-term, Donovan Solano as a back-up will be expected to do his job, and in AAA they have Jordany Valdespin holding down the role.

On the other hand for the Blue Jays, Dietrich could honestly start for them right away. With his only competition being Maicer Izturis who's 34-years old and Ramon Santiago who's 35-years old. A mere power-hitter, the reason the Marlins didn't have trust in Dietrich was simply his defense was incredibly poor and he has to become a more disciplined hitter moving forward in order to be in the majors.

Both with 1-year remaining on their deals, only time will tell to see who got the better end of the deal.

[Number999]

Wood nails the Marlins, shutout 0-4 loss

Atlanta Braves at Miami Marlins
Apr 7, 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (1-0)	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	11	0
Miami (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
W: Alex Wood (1-0) L: Mat Latos (0-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			ATL	MIA
ATL	1	Johnny Gomes grounded to center for a single, Young Jr. scores	1	0
ATL	2	Andrelton Simmons grounded to right for a single, Johnson scores	2	0
ATL	3	Freddie Freeman doubles to left, Markakis scores	3	0
ATL	3	Chris Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to center, Freeman scores	4	0

Atlanta Braves
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Eric Young Jr.	5	1	3	0	0	0	0	.444
Johnny Gomes	5	0	3	1	0	1	0	.333
Chris Johnson	3	1	1	1	0	0	0	.333

Miami Marlins
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Marcell Ozuna	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	.250
Martin Prado	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.429
Donovan Solano	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000

Atlanta Braves
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Alex Wood	8.0	6	0	0	1	8	0	0.00
Jason Grilli	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

Miami Marlins
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mat Latos	5.0	9	4	4	0	1	0	7.20
Nick Masset	2.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Aaron Loup	2.0	1	0	0	0	3	0	0.00

Game Recap: Welp... the 2nd game didn't go as planned for Miami like Opening Day did. The Braves shut-down Miami on the offensive end even when Miami got in a few decent opportunities. One of them being a Marcell Ozuna triple with just 1-out and it followed with Giancarlo Stanton striking out on 4 pitches and then a Christian Yelich ground-ball to end the inning. Mat Latos also didn't get off to the best of starts for Miami with conceding a run his first 3 innings, before finally settling in a bit... but with 0 offense from Miami, it didn't matter if he had pitched a gem.