Starting Pitching, Errors, and the Solo Homer Vol. V

Starting Pitching

	G	W	L	ERA	IP	IP/S	QS
Since Last	8	0	5	5.95	42 1/3	5.29	3
Season	29	6	11	4.93	162 1/3	5.60	9

Errors

	G	E	URA
Since Last	8	6	6
Season	29	19	14

Home Runs

	G	HR	TR	R%
Since Last	8	7	9	77.78%
Season	29	29	48	35.82%

Overall Assessment

The Marlins have now gone 19 games without a starting pitcher recording win and although there have been a couple blown saves and some poor run support, it's mainly the pitchers fault. The starters ERA for the past week was just a shade under 6.00. The defense also kicked the ball around a bit with the six errors leading to six unearned runs. The offense is slumping and in true fashion six of the seven home runs this week were solo shots. All of this adds up to a team that has lost 13 of it's last 17 and is fading fast. The key to a turnaround will have to be starting pitching. This series in Colorado we have our top three going and it's time they end this drought. This is easily the worst SPESH report to date.

Read more...

Starting Pitching, Errors, and the Solo Homer Vol. IV

Starting Pitching

	G	W	L	ERA	IP	IP/S	QS
Since Last	6	0	2	4.93	34 2/3	5.78	3
Season	21	6	6	4.58	120	5.71	6

Errors

	G	E	URA
Since Last	6	3	1
Season	15	13	8

Home Runs

	G	HR	TR	R%
Since Last	6	6	13	46.15%
Season	21	20	39	37.50%

Overall Assessment

The pitching was hot and cold this week. The three quality starts is an improvement but there were also a lot of early runs allowed and a short outing by fill-in Graham Taylor. Unfortunately the bullpen wasted Josh Johnson's gem and Chris Volstad's strong outing. The defense wasn't much of a factor this week, but yesterday's unusual infield provided some nice run saving plays. Lately, this year's Marlins have finally started to resemble the all or nothing teams we have seen the last couple of years. More runs are coming from home runs due in large part to Jorge Cantu's four this week.

Read more...

Starting Pitching, Errors, and the Solo Homer Vol. III

For an explanation, see the first edition of this series.

Starting Pitching

	G	W	L	ERA	IP	IP/S	QS
Since Last	6	0	3	6.75	32	5.33	1
Season	15	6	4	4.43	85 1/3	5.69	3

Errors

	G	E	URA
Since Last	6	3	1
Season	15	9	6

Home Runs

	G	HR	TR	R%
Since Last	6	6	10	40.00%
Season	15	14	26	31.33%

Overall Assessment

Despite a sweep in Washington, Marlins starters could not manage a quality start in three games, with only Josh Johnson lasting past the fourth inning in that series. Anibal Sanchez and Ricky Nolasco picked up quality starts in Pittsburgh, but were let down by the offense and bullpen in each of those games. The defense was better, allowing only one unearned run on three errors in six games. Jeremy Hermida and Cody Ross each had two clutch home runs in Washington, and Cameron Maybin hit his first home run as a Marlin in Pittsburgh. All in all, an odd week; the starters pitched better in losses, the defense managed to be uneventful, and the home runs for the most part came at the most opportune moments.

Read more...

Starting Pitching, Errors, and the Solo Homer Vol. II

If you do not know what this is about, please refer to the first edition of this series, which debuted last Thursday

Starting Pitching

	G	W	L	ERA	IP	IP/S	QS
Since Last	6	3	1	2.95	36 2/3	6.11	2
Season	9	6	1	3.04	53 1/3	5.93	2

Errors

	G	E	URA
Since Last	6	4	3
Season	9	6	5

Home Runs

	G	HR	TR	R%
Since Last	6	3	5	15.60%
Season	9	8	16	27.60%

Overall Assessment

It's been a good week for the club and the main reason is the starting pitching. Josh Johnson's gem and Chris Volstad's nice performance helped the starting staff keep up its great numbers. It's amazing that with those numbers through nine games the club still has notched just two quality starts. I guess that's why some people don't like that statistic.

The error total remains very Marlin-like but all three of the unearned runs this week came in the Mets loss, late in the game when the game was probably out of reach.

Amazingly the Fish had a four-game homerless drought and still won three of those games, including a ten-run outburst on Wednesday night. Cody Ross' three-run blast to end the streak was a huge hit and went a long way towards winning this afternoon's ballgame. The key to the reduction in home runs but steady run scoring has been Dan Uggla and his RBI singles. Usually with men on (or not on) he is a homer or strikeout guy. In a postgame interview he sort of admitted to slightly changing his approach at the plate. If it's true or not Dan, just keep doing what you are doing.

Read more...

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

Read more...