The First #Monsterdong of 2014

The Marlins may have lost their first game of the 2014 season on Wednesday, but they also got their first home run from Giancarlo Stanton, on a frozen rope into the bullpen:

Plus, he almost killed Mike Dunn:

"I kind of glanced, and was like, 'Ahhh.' I went back and looked at the home run this morning. If I didn't move, I think it would have hit me. It would have been really close to hitting me if I didn't move."

Good times.

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It's Never Too Early for a #Monsterdong

Ah, the first Giancarlo Stanton home run video* of spring. So majestic. Very satisfying. Watch below (or watch here while we try to make the mlb.com embed work):

*His second home run in Spring Training.

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"You Mean We're Allowed to Do That?"

Via Fish@Bat

In the 8th home game of the 2013 season, the Miami Marlins hit their first home run of the season at Marlins Park. Finally, that ugly beauty in centerfield blew its majestic wad, and for a brief moment all was right in Marlinworld.

Thanks, Adeiny. We're totally going to learn your name. You earned it, buddy!

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Stanton Broke Something with a #Monsterdong Again

During BP, @giancarlo818 crushed one of our employees' windshields so he signed it for him. Safelite repaired it: twitter.com/Dbacks/status/…
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 8, 2013

Someone is going to get killed by one of those some day...

(Previously on "Things Destroyed by Giancarlo Stanton")

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Home Run Blues

The Marlins are hitting fewer home runs at home than on the road, but despite speculation that the team should move in the home run fences at Marlins Park, the team is standing pat:

"We want it to be pitcher friendly, but fair to hitters who get all of it," [David] Samson said. "No cheapies. If you get it, we want it to go."

Here are the numbers. The Marlins have hit 13 home runs at home, compared to 19 on the road. Accounting for the fact that Miami has played more road games than home games thus far, that stat is no good. Home run percentages and the rate at which fly balls leave the park are the stats to examine.

Not including Tuesday's game (the stats from which had not been incorporated into Fangraphs' season tallies when I looked all this up last night), the Marlins are hitting home runs in 2.4% of their home at bats, compared to 2.8% of road at bats. Miami's home HR/FB% is 8.3%, while on the road 11.0% of fly balls hit by Marlins leave the park.

How does this compare to Sun Life Stadium? In 2011, the Marlins hit home runs in 2.7% of home at bats, and their home HR/FB% was 9.8%.

Clearly, Marlins Park is supressing power numbers. But it also has some other interesting effects. The Marlins have hit 8 triples at home this year (including Emilio Bonifacio's triple on Tuesday night), compared to 3 on the road. The expansive outfield could be one reason speedy hitters like Bonifacio and Jose Reyes are turning more doubles into triples at home.

Beyond that is the simple fact that whatever effect the Marlins are feeling at home will be duplicated by their opponents. The numbers bear this out. Marlins pitchers have posted a HR/FB% of 5.2% at home, versus 8.3% on the road.

I have not tested these numbers for statistical significance (I'll do that at the end of the month when we have a little bit bigger sample size), but suspect these differences are significant. Even so, the Marlins are not a power hitting team per se. Apart from Giancarlo Stanton, this team is full of guys who can hit to the gaps and get extra bases using speed. That's a good lineup to have for this park. Throw in the fact that the cavernous outfield dimensions mean the pitching staff can suppress home runs, and I think the Marlins' home run problem is not a problem at all.

Unless, of course, you consider the fact that we don't get to see our ugly/beautiful home run sculpture light up nearly enough.

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Home Run Structure in Action

Via YouTube user MrSand0880, here is a video of the Marlins' home run display in action.

Verdict: People who already hate it will still hate it. I think you're all nuts if you don't like it. 

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Starting Pitching, Errors, and the Solo Homer

This will be a series throughout the season profiling the identity of last year's team and determining whether the offseason changes in roster and philosophy result in actual differences in these areas. We expect to update after every couple of series, about once a week on average.

Starting Pitching

	G	QS	W	L	ERA
Since Last	3	0	3	0	3.06
Season	3	0	3	0	3.06

Errors

	G	E	URA
Since Last	3	2	2
Season	3	2	2

Home Runs

	G	HR	TR	R%
Since Last	3	5*	11*	42.3%
Season	4	5*	11*	42.3%

*I did not include Emilio Bonifacio's inside the park home run and the runs resulting from it because, despite its awesomeness quotient, it was about speed and not power, which is what we are trying to convey here.

Overall Assessment

The starting pitching has done it's job, which has been made easier by being supplied early big leads in the first two games. It's also a little strange that a 3-0 record and 3.06 ERA by the starters has actually come without the benefit of a single quality start. Both JJ and Volstad were on their way but exited before completing the 6th inning (I'm still perplexed why Volstad came out so early). Nolasco also had a chance in his six innings before allowing the three-run bomb to Adam Dunn.

The Marlins were remarkably error-free through two games thanks to a late scoring change, but they certaintly did their part in the third game. Cody Ross' mental blunder cost the team one unearned run and two total runs in the 1st. And Dan Uggla's mistake in the 9th set the stage for a blown lead before being bailed out by late inning defensive replacement Brett Carroll (I bet managers love when those guys come through).

While the offense did look a lot more small-ball oriented, it was still helped much by the big ball. Early homers gave the club leads in two games and Hanley's big grand slam in the opener put that game beyond reach.

INDEX

QS: Quality start, a pitcher who goes 6+ innings and allows 3 or fewer runs
URA: Unearned runs allowed
TR: Total runs resulting from home runs
R%: Percentage of the team's runs that came via a home run

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