Luis Arraez makes history, clutch wins and more from Miami Marlins’ strong first month
The calendar has flipped from April to May, and the Miami Marlins have found themselves in a solid spot in the standings to begin Skip Schumaker’s first year as manager.
After sweeping the Chicago Cubs this weekend, the Marlins close the first full month of the season with a 16-13 record. Their 15 wins in April — Miami went 1-1 in March — are tied for the second-most wins in April in franchise history, behind only the club’s 16-9 record in 2011.
How did they get here, and how sustainable is this start? Let’s take a look.
The Marlins’ record when...
▪ Playing any team not named the Atlanta Braves or New York Mets — 13-5. The Marlins have won six of nine series so far this season, sweeping the Chicago Cubs this weekend and taking two of three against the Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Guardians. The Diamondbacks and Twins lead their respective divisions. The Cubs and Phillies also have a winning record.
The Marlins will need to figure out how to scratch a few wins against the Braves and Mets, the standard bearers of the NL East who both won 101 games last season, but being competitive (and winning) against the middle-of-the-pack teams is a solid sign to start to the season.
▪ A game is decided by one run — 10-0. Miami went 24-40 in one-run games last season. This year, they have won each of their first 10 contests with such results. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only the 1972 New York Mets are the only team with a longer stretch of consecutive wins in one-run games to begin a season, going 11-0 in such contests.
▪ When Marlins are tied or trailing after six innings — 6-12: Miami has won one-third of its games so far when it was either tied or behind with three innings left to play. A couple reasons for that: Miami’s offense has shown up the most late in games and its bullpen has stepped up in high-leverage situations.
With the offense, the Marlins’ have a .279 batting average (87 for 312) in the seventh inning or later this season, which is the third-best mark in MLB behind only the Houston Astros (.286) and Cubs (.280). They have scored 41 of their 99 runs in that span as well.
Luis Arraez hits his way into record books
The Marlins knew they were getting a steady, professional hitter in Luis Arraez when they acquired him from the Minnesota Twins in a trade for starting pitcher Pablo Lopez and two prospects in January.
But this? They couldn’t have imagined this.
Through April, Arraez is hitting a blistering .438 (39 for 89) over 25 games played. It’s the highest batting average in Marlins history through April, breaking Dee Strange-Gordon’s mark of .409 set in 2015.
Even more, only nine players have had a batting average higher than that through April while having at least 80 plate appearances: Barry Bonds (.472, 2004), Pete Rose (.466, 1976), Larry Walker (.456, 1997), Tony Perez (.455, 1970), John Olerud (.450, 1993), Rod Carew (.449, 1983), Darin Erstad (.449, 2000), Paul O’Neill (.448, 1994) and Ivan Rodriguez (.442, 1998).
Arraez, the reigning American League batting champion, also leads the team with a .500 on-base percentage, is tied for the team lead with 12 runs scored and is tied for third with 11 RBI. He hit for the first cycle in franchise history on April 11 against the Philadelphia Phillies. He has multiple hits in 12 of his 23 starts.
A mixed bag of pitching
Pitching was supposed to be once again be the Marlins’ backbone this season.
But results on the mound have left a lot to be desired. Miami’s 4.41 ERA is 17th in MLB, its 1.31 walks and hits per inning pitched is 18th and its .244 batting average against is 16th.
Injuries and underperformance in the starting rotation has played a heavy part in this. Two starting pitchers are sidelined in Johnny Cueto and Trevor Rogers. Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara, who has been underwhelming, also had a start skipped due to biceps tendinitis. Overall, Marlins starting pitchers have averaged just 4.89 innings per start and have made it through the sixth inning in just seven of 29 outings.
That puts a lot of extra pressure on the bullpen.
That said, the Marlins’ revamp relief pitcher corps has stepped up in key situations. Marlins pitching has held opponents to a .207 batting average and a 1.01 WHIP in late-and-close situations, defined as plate appearances in the seventh inning or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck. Those are the 11th- and fifth best marks in the league, respectively.
A.J. Puk and Dylan Floro have asserted themselves as the Marlins’ top high-leverage relievers, but Schumaker has several options to turn to — Tanner Scott, Matt Barnes, Steven Okert, Huascar Brazoban and, when he returns from injury, JT Chargois — if either or both of them are unavailable.
What’s next
May is when things fell apart for the Marlins last season. Miami went 7-19 in May during the 2022 season behind a combination of poor clutch hitting and injuries.
Miami’s schedule this May includes matchups with the following teams: Home against the Braves (Tuesday through Thursday), a road trip to the Cubs (Friday through Sunday and Diamondbacks May 8-10), a homestand against the Cincinnati Reds (May 12-14) and Washington Nationals (May 16-18), a three-city road trip to the Giants (May 19-21), Colorado Rockies (May 22-25) and Los Angeles Angels (May 26-28) and a series against the San Diego Padres (May 30-June 1) that starts a three-team homestand.
