The game happened. Trevor Rogers was decent over his five innings of work. Jazz was back in the lineup and drove in a run. He also made a spectacular catch which made it's way all over the world via social media. Coop got hit by a pitch, which took him out of the game, but drove in another run. Miami ended up dropping the game 3-2. Oh well.
One bright spot in the game for me was Brian Anderson. He looked like he belonged out there. Let's hope he keeps it up. As much as I think the could be moved as part of a deal for bullpen (or CF) help, I like BA and want him to stay in a Marlins jersey.
NOW. As much as it sucks to start the season 1-2, there a LOT of positives to take away from it.
Lets start with the fact that the Giants finished 2021 with THE BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL (107-55). The Marlins, on the other end of the spectrum, finished with a record of 67-95. If you're facing (statistically) the best team in baseball and can pull out a win that's a BIG win.
Next up is the fact that all three games were won by one run. These were all CLOSE games where the Marlins offence (which we know will get going eventually) didn't exactly show up most of the weekend.
Let's talk about that bullpen. It wasn't great in the first game with the three B's (Bleier, Bender and Bass) each giving up a run, but they got it going in game two (Okert picked up the win for his 1.1 innings and four strikeouts). Then in game three it was Armstrong, Bass and Okert who didn't allow a run between them over the four innings they threw. I'll be the first one to say I don't think Kim Ng did enough over the off-season to address the bullpen (and I still think they could add a piece or two) but the way it is now, if they keep pitching this way, is good enough to keep the Fish in contention in the NL East.
Another positive is the offence. I know it wasn't really there this past weekend, but we know it will be. There's only four Fish with RBI's; Jazz, Jacob Stallings, Cooper and Jesús Sánchez. Nothing from Aguilar, nothing from Soler, nothing from GarcÃa. Aguilar led the Marlins last year in RBI and will get going. Soler was brought in for his bat and won World Series MVP because of his bat. GarcÃa is no slouch at the plate either. If Miami is good enough to keep pace with a 100+ win team WITHOUT (arguably) three of our top players contributing RBI's, that's a good sign.
The final positive I want to talk about is defensively...specifically behind the plate. JACOB. FREAKING. STALLINGS. How good is it to know there's man behind the plate who is one of the best defensively in the game. To top it off his bat isn't half bad either. Just the fact that the Marlins have a reliable catcher for the first time in a few seasons...it's a breath of fresh air.
Off to Anaheim now to face Shohei, Trout and the Angels. This should be fun...