43-70... This number probably doesn’t mean much to you, unless you are a Miami Marlins fan. Lets be honest here, the Marlins are not good. Their fan base knew this coming into the season and are well aware of it. The question is whether or not they will be good in the near future? Believe it or not but they could be. I know, I know it sounds crazy to say but the proof is in the pudding.
After the biggest disappointment in Marlins history aka the 2012 regular season; the Marlins went into selling mode and got rid of almost everyone. The one big piece that did stay in tact was the big time slugger Giancarlo Stanton. He is what most would call a man child. At 23-years-old he has became the ninth quickest to reach 100 home runs in baseball history. You're probably saying to yourself, “Yes Travis we all know who Stanton is.” So I will move on.
In addition to Stanton is a big time pitcher who has slowly caught the attention of big time media. His name? Jose Fernandez. If you are unaware of who he is it makes sense but you are about to learn a lot more about him and for good reason. This guy has some of the nastiest pitches in all of baseball. In fact, I don’t think I have ever seen a pitcher who can throw such a crazy moving changeup, not to mention his slider. He has a legitimate shot at receiving the NL Rookie of the Year award. He is currently 8-5 with a 2.54 ERA and has struck out 138 men. This kid is the new ace of the Marlins and I say kid because he is only 21 years old.
In his last start of the year he fanned 14 Cleveland Indians on his way to a 10-0 win. He went eight innings and only allowed three hits while walking one. This is piece number two of the young Marlins ball club. Moving on.
A lot of young prospects have gotten the call up since this team has been struggling so much this year. Christian Yelich was called up in mid-July and has played in 15 games. He is batting .290 with one home run, five RBIs and an OBP of .366. It has been a very small sample size to this point but for a guy who is 6’4, 197 and only 21 years old he has time to get bigger and stronger and perhaps be a cornerstone in left field. Yelich has a very high ceiling as he was ranked by Baseball America as Miami’s second best prospect behind stud pitcher Fernandez mentioned above. Of the top 100 prospects watch Yelich was ranked ninth overall out of 100 of the top prospects in baseball. Keep an eye on this kid.
The final name I will talk about is Jake Marisnick who was called up at the same time as Yelich. He plays center field and is ranked 43rd on the MLB Top 100 Prospects list. In his first 15 games in the bigs he has only batted .192 with one home run, three RBIs and 12 strikeouts. He is slowly adjusting to the bigs but in a lost season for the Marlins the more big league work the better. He is a center fielder so he has a lot of speed along with a great arm and great fielding ability. At 6’3, 225 he is a big, athletic man who has the potential to do some damage once his bat comes around. A lot of scouts believe his bat is the only thing that is holding him back right now, but at 21 you have to assume the best is yet to come.
Overall, this ball club has a lot of young talented kids that could make this team competitive in roughly 2015 or 2016. The only problem is if the Marlins will be sellers and losing some of these guys come the next trade deadline in 2014. Either way it is going to be exciting to see what this team could turn into if all of these promising prospects pan out. So Marlins fans, hang in there and you never know; this team could be looking at a .500 record in two or three years.