DownSwinging.com

The Florida Marlins started out this season as the MLB’s hottest team, starting the season on an 11-1 streak. Now the team has won 10 of its last 14 games (with the three of those four losses coming against what were the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays) and is just one game behind the Phillies in the NL East. So with the Mets spiraling out of control and the Phillies playing mediocre ball, can the Marlins surprise everyone and take the division? Really, there’s no reason why not.

A couple weeks before the pre-season, I was talking to a friend about my preparations for my upcoming fantasy baseball auction. I remember saying, “I really like Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco, I think they’re going to be great this year. I also like Andrew Miller as a high upside breakout guy. Actually, I pretty much just like any Marlins pitcher.” And it’s true.

Now, it really didn’t work out exactly as planned, except for Johnson. Nolasco really struggled, and spent some time in the minors as a result. Miller wasn’t reaching his potential. But actually, the Marlins offense carried them for awhile, going off to start the season, and it helped sustain them. Realistically, the Marlins offense isn’t amazing. It’s not bad either, it’s mostly just about average, though given how young it is, it naturally has places to go.

The thing is that the Marlins were able to hang around the division at just five or six games back while its pitching figured itself out. And then something happened. The pitching started to figure itself out. Ricky Nolasco came back, and he’s the Ricky Nolasco people thought he would be. He’s given up two or less runs in his past six starts, with three of those six coming against the strong offenses of Boston, Toronto and Washington.

Andrew Miller and Sean West have shown flashes of brilliance, most likely signs of things to come. If Chris Volstad can get his act together, this team will have a very strong rotation all-around. And because the Fish are such a young team, you can probably say make a safe bet that they will improve as the season goes on, which is a good sign for them considering we haven’t even hit the All-Star Break yet.

I still would call the star-studded Phillies favorites to win the division, but if you’re looking for a resolution to the question asked in the headline, the answer is unequestionably, yes.