MLB Team Report – Miami Marlins – INSIDE PITCH
With a lost Marlins season winding down, Giancarlo Stanton can set his sights on some individual records.
Stanton needs eight home runs over the team’s final 18 games to tie Gary Sheffield’s franchise season record of 42, set in 1996. Stanton already has 34, tied with Miguel Cabrera for second most in a season by a Marlins player.
Stanton has hit 21 home runs on the road, two shy of Sheffield’s franchise record for road homers, set in 1996.
Stanton hit four home runs on Miami’s six-game road trip, which ended Wednesday. Miami has six more road games, three each in New York and Atlanta.
Stanton still is learning as a hitter, which could explain why 21 of his home runs this year have come with the bases empty.
“He has got to learn, and he will learn, how to approach when people are in scoring position,” manager Ozzie Guillen said.
“I think when he learns how to take a base hit or take a walk, he’ll become a more dangerous hitter. Obviously, when there are people on base, they’re going to pitch him different.”
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MLB Team Report – Miami Marlins – NOTES, QUOTES
–C Rob Brantly wants to be the starting catcher when spring training opens, and so far he has been making a solid case. He is batting .381 (16 for 42) over his last 13 games, including ,462 (6-for-13) on the team’s recent road trip.
–CF Bryan Petersen is batting .360 (9-for-25) in seven games since Sept. 5. He went 5-for-17 on the team’s recent road trip.
–RHP Jose Fernandez and CF Christian Yelich, who helped lead the Class A Jupiter Hammerheads to the Florida State League finals, are among the organization’s top prospects who could get called up some time in 2013. (Jupiter lost the championship to Lakeland in five games.)
Fernandez, 20, went 14-1 with a 1.75 ERA in 25 combined starts (134 innings) at Class A Greensboro and Jupiter. Yelich, 20, hit .330 with 12 homers and 48 RBI for Jupiter. Both are former first-round picks.
–1B Carlos Lee, 36, started building a reputation as an RBI machine when he had 84 as a rookie with the Chicago White Sox in 1999. He said he never forgot the advice he got that year from batting coach Von Joshua.
“RBI (statistics) never go down,” Lee said he was told by Joshua, who knew rookies often dwell on their batting average. Lee said the advice has helped him stay focused on what he considers his main duty as a hitter — driving in runs.
“My idea is if I got people on base, the pitcher is in trouble, not me,” said Lee, who has 39 RBI in his first 60 games with the Marlins.
–INF Greg Dobbs’ .378 road average since June 21 leads the National League and ranks second in the majors. Dobb has had a hit in 28 of 34 road games over that span.
BY THE NUMBERS: 153 — Strikeouts for Josh Johnson (in 179 1/3 innings), which leads Marlins pitchers.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I would not put anything past him, just based on what he has done this year. There’s no doubt he is ahead of the curve for a first-year pro.” — Class A Jupiter manager Andy Haines on the chances of RHP Jose Fernandez, the Marlins’ top prospect, pitching in the major leagues sometime next year.
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MLB Team Report – Miami Marlins – ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
–CF Emilio Bonifacio (right knee sprain) went on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 22. He said Sept. 4 that he won’t play again this season or in winter ball.
–INF Nick Green (sprained left thumb) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 13. He said Aug. 31 that it hadn’t improved and he might not play again this season.
–LF Logan Morrison (right knee inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list July 29, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on Aug. 16. He underwent another surgery Sept. 5 to fix problems created by the procedure he had last December.
–RHP Juan Carlos Oviedo (sprained right elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list July 23, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on Sept. 4. He is out indefinitely.
–RHP Sandy Rosario (strained right quadriceps) went on the 15-day disabled list June 16, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on Aug. 13.
–RHP Jose Ceda (swollen right elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL on May 27. He underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery April 12.
ROTATION:
RHP Josh Johnson
LHP Mark Buehrle
RHP Ricky Nolasco
RHP Nathan Eovaldi
LHP Wade LeBlanc
RHP Jacob Turner
BULLPEN:
RHP Heath Bell
RHP Steve Cishek
RHP Ryan Webb
RHP Chad Gaudin
LHP Mike Dunn
RHP Chris Hatcher
RHP Carlos Zambrano
LHP Dan Jennings
RHP Tom Koehler
RHP A.J. Ramos
CATCHERS:
John Buck
Rob Brantly
INFIELDERS:
1B Carlos Lee
2B Donovan Solano
SS Jose Reyes
3B Greg Dobbs
INF Donnie Murphy
OUTFIELDERS:
LF Bryan Petersen
CF Justin Ruggiano
RF Giancarlo Stanton
OF Gorkys Hernandez
OF Austin Kearns
