The Miami Marlins don’t have much room for drift anymore. They head into tonight’s game at loanDepot Park against the Washington Nationals needing urgency more than anything else, because the calendar is shrinking and the Wild Card race is tightening around them.
That’s the reality for Clayton McCullough’s club after a rough stretch that included a sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies. Miami is still in the race, but the cushion has gone, and the next few weeks are going to decide whether this season becomes a late push or just another reminder of how fast momentum can disappear.
It wasn’t long ago that the Marlins looked like one of the more interesting stories in the league. June gave the impression that a postseason berth might come sooner than expected, and for a young team trying to build something, that kind of surge can change the mood around an entire season.
Then July hit hard. Miami dropped 12 straight, and the glow from that hot month faded quickly.
Since then, the results have leveled off rather than taken off. The Marlins have gone 8-9 in August, a stretch that has kept them afloat without really moving them forward. That leaves them at 64-64, four games back of the final National League Wild Card spot with 34 games left to play.
The climb is crowded. The Chicago Cubs sit in the top Wild Card position at 74-54, followed by the Philadelphia Phillies at 70-58 and the San Diego Padres at 68-60.
Behind Miami, the Arizona Diamondbacks are 1.0 game back, the St. Louis Cardinals are 2.5 games behind, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are 5.5 back at 63-66.
In other words, the Marlins have plenty of company in both directions.
That’s why tonight matters. This series against the Nationals gives Miami a chance to put some force behind its push and show whether this group is ready to play into the fall or still a year away from that kind of stage.
Ryan Gusto gets the ball for the Marlins. The righthander is 0-3 with a 4.70 ERA. He’ll be opposed by Washington’s Brad Lord, who comes in at 5-2 with a 4.04 ERA.
In Other News...
Marlins Offense Has A Growing Problem At The Worst Possible Time
The Marlins lineup has lost some of the spark that helped carry it through the first half, and the timing could hardly be worse. Following the All-Star break, Jazz Chisholm Jr. has not been producing at the same level, with his batting average, slugging percentage and barrel rate all slipping from where they stood before the break. For a club that needs its most dynamic players setting the tone, that kind of dip changes the entire shape of an inning.
Xavier Edwards has also cooled off, and his struggles have added another layer to Miamis offensive issues. The lack of power and a reduced walk rate have made it harder for the Marlins to build the sustained pressure they need, leaving the lineup thinner and less threatening in the second half. If Miami is going to stabilize its offense, it will need those two to start looking more like the players who helped fuel the better version of this team earlier in the year. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Playoff Push Keeps Running Into The Same Frustrating Problem
With the Marlins sitting at .500 and trying to keep their postseason hopes alive, the same issue keeps surfacing whenever they run into a left-handed starter. Miami has been much more productive against righties, while its offense has sputtered more often against southpaws, creating a lineup imbalance that has shown up in the lower half of the order and made every at-bat feel a little more important than the last.
There are signs the pitching side is moving in the right direction, at least. Eury Perez and Tyler Phillips have looked sharper when leaning more on changeups and splitters instead of letting fastballs do all the work, and Sandy Alcantara has continued to mix things up on the mound. The next chance to see whether that progress carries over comes in Washington, where another left-handed matchup will test whether Miami can finally turn a familiar weakness into something more manageable. [Read more 🡒]