Marlins Report - 5/11/03
May 11, 2003
The Fish thought this would be the year they would contend with the Braves for the NL East. With the acquisitions of Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Pierre, the Marlins have a pretty solid lineup from top to bottom, and with a young, talented staff people in Florida were excited. But injuries have plagued the Marlins at numerous positions and the Fish find themselves in 4th, trailing the Braves by eight games.
The Marlins were dealt the biggest blow when ace A. J. Burnett had Tommy John surgery on his pitching arm. Starting Pitcher Josh Beckett has also seen DL time on three different occasions. Mark Redman is also on the DL with a bad thumb and Michael Tejera left the ball game today with an ankle injury. Pitching is going to be a very big commodity for the Marlins in the weeks to come, and a trade maybe inevitable. Brad Penny is the only starter that the plague has past over. He did however miss some ballgames due to suspension for a preseason scuffle with Vlad Guerrero.
Mike Lowell has led the attack for the Marlins so far, leading the team in Home Runs, RBIs and Runs. He is second in Doubles only to Todd Hollandsworth. He is making a good push to be one of the Marlins all-stars, who figure to have more than one with the numbers they have been producing.
If there is one stat that the Marlins own, it is stolen bases. They lead the Majors in SBs with 56. The next closest team is the Anaheim Angels with 27. Leading the Fish in thefts are Juan Pierre (14), Derrek Lee (11), and Juan Encarnacion (9). The Marlins also lead the ML in triples with 15.
Series So Far…
Philadelphia 1-2
Atlanta 1-3
New York Mets 2-1
Atlanta 2-1
Philadelphia 2-2
New York Mets 1-2
Milwaukee 3-0
St. Louis 1-2
Arizona 2-2
Houston 0-3
San Francisco 0-3
Colorado 1-0 (two games remaining)
Upcoming series
2 Colorado
3 @ San Diego
3 @ Los Angeles
3 @ Montreal
3 @ Cincinatti
NL East Standings
Atlanta 23-12
Montreal 22-14
Philadelphia 21-15
Florida 16-21
NY Mets 15-21
On the All-Star Ballot…
Ivan Rodriguez, C
Derrek Lee, 1B
Mike Lowell, 3B
Luis Castillo, 2B
Alex Gonzalez, SS
Juan Encarnacion, OF
Todd Hollandsworth, OF
Juan Pierre, OF
Don’t forget to vote for your Marlins!