If the National League playoffs started this week, the Miami Marlins would be the last team to sneak into the postseason. And for writers and fans like myself, it would be the best thing to happen in this shortened craziness we call an MLB season.
For the record, which my colleagues Stuart Hack and Scott Morganroth will back up, I have been pushing this narrative since the week before the start of the 60-game MLB season that I believed the Marlins would make things competitive and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2003. And for reference, my son was four years old when that happened. My daughter wasn’t round to enjoy the craziness that usually comes with a Marlins playoff berth.
This season, although short and unpredictable, has once again proven to be the ideal time for the Marlins organization to jump aboard the playoff potential of the National League.
The Marlins are chasing both Atlanta and Philadelphia, but with more confidence than in seasons past where the words “rebuild” and “blueprint” had more meaning than balls and strikes.
“Another big win today,” manager Don Mattingly said following the team’s win on Monday. “We get back to .500 and have a chance to win a series tomorrow. These guys keep playing. We’re kind of seeing what they’re made of.”
You can’t help but like the enthusiasm. The roster, a mixed bag of young talent that has proven to be ready and veterans who have been shaky at the plate, however they have helped stabilize what Mattingly is accomplishing from the dugout.
It all starts with pitching, which has been this team’s calling card since Derek Jeter took over the reins of this reclamation project three years ago. Depth and patience have played a superior role in the development of the rotation. And with the willingness of the front office to make calculated chess moves, there may not be a better trio of young arms in the league than Sixto Sanchez, Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez.
I’ll also stand by the comments I made that the Miami Marlins pitching staff could rival the 1990s Braves with a few more moves and a lot less respect or appreciation. Yes, it can be that good.
Now, with a few weeks left in the season and the roster putting its running shoes on, how does the remainder of this sprint to the finish, the Marlins have put themselves in a position to speed up the growth process within the organization.
If the team does not make the post season in 2020 it will be a partial letdown, but it also will serve as notice this is a franchise to be taken seriously in 2021.
Everything that has happened since the fears of COVID-19 struck this sport and the Marlins recovered from a disastrous start to the 2020 season has played into this organization’s hands. Jeter and Mattingly have played calculated chess and proved doubters wrong. That’s the beauty of this great sport.
Now, with another series on the horizon and MLB writers watching to see if the miracle becomes a reality, can Mattingly and his team do the unthinkable? The Marlins have two World Series titles in seasons that were just as uneven as this one. It makes sense to factor them into the championship equation.
Let’s see how this all plays out. Hopefully, it means more baseball in October. It also means Jeter’s forward thinking and Mattingly’s strategy have worked better than they may have thought this season. This was a team that figured to be a contender in 2021 or 2022. Moving at a brisk pace just means the blueprint Jeter preaches is ahead of its time.
That certainly isn’t a bad thing.
