26-year old righty reliever Leo Nunez pitched in 75 games (0 starts) for the Marlins last season and he was 4-6 with 26 saves, a 4.06 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He went into spring training with the closer’s job but his name was written in pencil. Nunez had a good enough spring to keep the job heading into 2010 and it looks like he wants to keep it based on how well he is pitching right now. Nunez has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this season and he is 1-0 with 4 saves, a 0.00 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP. He has only given up 1 hit in 9 1/3 innings so far this season for the Marlins while whiffing 10 batters showing just how nasty his stuff has been. But, he needs to start throwing more strikes as he has already walked 5 guys this year and that’s way too many.

Lefty swinging John Baker and righty swinging Ronny Paulino form a very productive platoon behind the plate for the Marlins. Last season they hit a combined .271 with 83 runs scored, 17 homers and 77 RBIs for the Marlins. This season Baker & Paulino are both off to solid starts again. Baker has played in 14 games for the Marlins this season and he is 14 of 49 (.286 avg, .733 OPS with 5 runs scored and 6 RBIs. Paulino has played in 10 games for the Marlins this year and he is 8 for 31 (.258 avg, .755 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. The catchers are a secret weapon for the Marlins offensively but they need Baker to actually start throwing a few runners out trying to steal against him this year. As long as this tandem continues to hit the Marlins will be happy with them.

The baseball union put pressure on the Marlins to spend some money this season. That essentially caused them to keep 1B/3B Jorge Cantu and 2B Dan Uggla as they were involved in a lot of trade rumors over the winter. Cantu has played in 19 games this season for the Marlins and he is 21 for 76 (.276 avg, .843 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 4 homers and 20 RBIs. He has been a rock in the lineup for the Marlins who have been having some issues ahead of him in the lineup especially with last year’s Rookie of the Year in the N.L. (Chris Coghlan) who can’t buy a hit. Dan Uggla has been gving Cantu solid protection in the lineup. He has played in 19 games for the Marlins this season and he is 23 for 71 (.324 avg, .973 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 4 homers and 11 RBIs. The Marlins would be in deep trouble this season without this pair so God Bless the M.L.B. Players’ Union!

The Marlins have placed lefty reliever Dan Meyer on the 15-day disabled list with a left calf strain. I would believe that he had whiplash more than a calf strain based on his putrid pitching so far this season. He has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this season and he is 0-1 with a 16.20 ERA and a 4.50 WHIP. He has walked 4 batters and allowed 11 hits in only 3 1/3 innings for the Marlins this year showing just how awful he has been. The Marlins have activated righty reliever Brian Sanches off the D.L. to replace Meyer in the pen. Sanches pitched in 47 games (0 starts) for the Marlins last season and he is 4-2 with a 2.56 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. The Marlins hope that Sanches is for real and not a mirage in 2009 because they need bullpen help really, really bad.

The Marlins have signed 31-year old righty reliever/starter Jorge Sosa to a minor league deal. Sosa pitched in 18 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 2-1 with 2 saves, a 6.45 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. Sosa has now pitched in 272 games (88 starts) in his major league career and he is 42-50 with 7 saves, a 4.72 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Sosa has a live arm and he can earn his way back to the majors with a strong start in the minors as the Marlins need help in the pen.

The Marlins took two out of three from the Phillies in Philly this past weekend so it’s all smiles right now in Florida. The Marlins are 8-5 on the season which has them in 2nd place in the N.L. East, 1/2 a game behind the Phillies. The Marlins are outscoring their opponents 68-62 on the season so they need to tighten up the pitching staff a tad if they are going to keep winning a lot of ballgames. The Marlins travel to Houston (3 games) and Colorado (3 games) this week.

32-year old lefty starting pitcher Nate Robertson is off to a very solid start for the Marlins in 2010. Robertson has started 3 games for the Marlins this season and he is 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He has only allowed 15 hits while whiffing 11 batters in 16 1/3 innings this year. The Marlins need Robertson to start working a little deeper in games but other than that they are ecstatic with the way he is pitching right now.

25-year old lefty swinging LF Chris Coghlan is really struggling right now for the Marlins. He was the N.L. Rookie of the Year last season but it looks as if the pitchers are attacking him in a new way which he has not adjusted to yet. Coghlan has played in 9 games this season for the Marlins and he is 5 for 42 (.119 avg, .278 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and 2 stolen bases. He has only whiffed 10 times this season so he is making contact but he’s not finding any holes. The Marlins will probably give him until the end of the month to get going.

The Marlins have designated 29-year old righty reliever Jose Veras for assignment. Veras pitched in 4 games for the Marlins and he was 1-0 with a 15.43 ERA and a 2.36 WHIP. Veras gave up 7 hits and walked 4 batters in only 4 2/3 innings for the Marlins. All I can say about Veras is good riddance.

The Marlins are using 27-year old righty reliever Burke Badenhop as the long man in the pen. But if he keeps pitching like he is right now the Marlins might have to start using him later in games. Badenhop is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.40 WHIP so far this season in 2 game. He has given up only 2 hits in his first five innings for the Marlins this season. With all of the trouble the Marlins have been having in the pen it might be smart for them to give Badenhop some innings late in games.