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Marlins 2013 Predictions

HECHVARRIA

This season the Marlins don’t have the big expectations that they had last season for obvious reasons. Here’s our prediction for this season:

Catching:

John Buck never lived up to his contract in his years with the Marlins. Pretty much losing his job to rookie Rob Brantly late in the season. Brantly came over in the Sanchez and Infante trade. In 31 games, he hit .290 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. I think Rob will be the starter this year with Jeff Mathis who came over in the big Blue Jays trade backing him up. Mathis played in 70 games and hit .218 with 8 HR and 27 RBI.

1st Base:

If Logan Morrison is ready for opening day he will probably be the staring 1st baseball and not the starting LF. Morrison hit .230 with 11 HR and 36 RBI in 93 games last season. If he is not ready i would guess either Greg Dobbs who hit .285 with 5 HR and 39 RBI in 120 games last season and dont rule out Joe Mahoney if he has a good spring.

Second Base:

I think Donovan Solano has this spot locked up unless he gets injured or plays terrible in spring training. Solano was a pleasant surprise in my mind last season hitting .295 with 2 HR and 28 RBI in 93 games. If he struggles and Derek Dietrich hits well in the minors he would probably get called up to play 2nd.

Shortstop:

 Adeiny Hechavarria, who i think will end up being an All Star, will be the staring shortstop on opening day. The scouting report on him is that he can field but can he hit enough to stay in the Majors. In 41 gameswith the Jays last season he hit .254 with 2 HR and 15 RBI he will probably hit 8th in the lineup. If he can hit .270-.280 this season and continue being a good fielder he would be a good get. I see him hitting around .280 in the future and winning Gold Gloves for the Marlins

Third base

Placido Polanco will most likely be the opening day 3rd Baseball for us. He hit .257 with 2 HR and 19 RBI last season. He is a good fielder, that makes the left side of our infield a very good fielding group. If he struggles don’t be surprised to see Zack Cox who we got in the Mujica deal last season man the hot corner. He had a bad season hitting .254 with 9 HR and 30 RBI in 84 games for Memphis AAA. Veterans Kevin Kouzmanoff and Dobbs might see some PT there also.

Left Field:

Good old Juan Pierre will be playing left for the Marlins this season. Juan has been very consistent through his career and hopefully he keeps it up. Juan will lead off and be a threat on the base pads for us  37 SB last season. He hit .307 in 130 for division rival Philadelphia last season. Backup will probably be  Gorkys Hernandez. Top Prospect Christian Yelich might see some PT in left also.

Center Field:

Justin Ruggaino will most likely be the opening day starter in center this season. He was a surprise hitting .313 with 13 HR and 36 RBI in 91 games. Backups will be Chris Coghlan .140 in 39 games and Gorkys Hernandez .212 in 45 games.

Right Field:

Giancarlo Stanton will be the Monster in right for us this season. He will probably dont see many pitches to hit if LoMo our who ever is in the 4 spot hits. He is a Monster and if the rest of the lineup hits decent i smell a .290 42 HR and 95 RBI season.

Staring Pitching:

  • Ricky Nolasco: Will have to be the number 1 this season, went 12-13 4.48 Era last season pitched 191 innings and gave up 214 hits. If he pitches well he will probably get traded for some prospects.

  • Henderson Alvarez: He gives up a lot of hits 216 hits in 187.1 innings but this guy has the stuff to definitely be a number 1 some time in the future.

  • Jacob Turner: Impressed me last year with the Marlins the stats might not show 1-4 3.38 Era 42.2 innings and gave up 33 hits. I think he will end up being a very good pitcher for us in the future.

  • Nathan Eovaldi: Comes from the same high school as Nolan Ryan. Nate came over in the Hanley trade last season and and had his struggles 3-7 with a 4.43 era in 63 innings gave up 70 hits. I think he will be a solid 4-5 starter for us in the future.

  • Wade LaBlanc: He will most likely be the fifth starter this season. Went 2-5 with a 3.67 Era in 68.2 innings gave up 71 hits. Started only 9 out of 25 game pitched in.

Relief Pitching:

I think the bullpen will be a revolving door expect the closing role. Veterans like Kevin Slowey, Chad Qualls, Mitch Talbot, John Maine and Micheal Wuertz might see some time in the bull pen this season. People like Ryan Webb and Mike Dunn will probably be a constant with people like Braulio Lara, Scott Maine and Dan Jennings getting sent up and sent down depending on the situation.

Closer:

Steve Cishek will be the closer this season. Took over last season after Heath Bell played bad, Think he will lock down the ninth for us this season.

Season Prediction: Its going to be another long year for us. With a lot of young players playing it will help us in the future but this season i can see us winning 62-70 games. Hopefully we wont lose 100 games don’t wanna see that.