30-year old righty starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco has been solid so far this year for the Marlins.  He has pitched in 10 games (all starts) for the Marlins so far this year and he is 3-5 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  Nolasco has given up 57 hits and he has walked 14 batters while whiffing 50 in his first 61 1/3 innings…which is pretty impressive.  Nolasco has now pitched in 205 games (189 starts) in his first 8 years with the Marlins and he is 79-69 with a 4.47 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.  Nolasco is the Marlins’ all-time leader in games started (189), wins (79), innings pitched (1,174 2/3) and strikeouts (961).  He is also #8 in games pitched (205), #4 in WHIP (1.30), #5 in complete games (9) and he is tied for 4th in shutouts (4) in Marlins’ history.  Nolasco is likely the next Marlin to get traded, but they will have to kick in some money if they want a decent prospect or two back, as he is making a whopping $11,500,000 in 2013.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Kevin Slowey is off to a good start in 2013, but he hasn’t gotten much run support.  Slowey has pitched in 4 games (all starts) for the Marlins so far this year and he is 0-2 with a 1.90 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.  Slowey had a rough year in 2012, working in 8 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Indians last year and he was 3-3 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP.  Slowey landed in a good spot to turn his once promising career around.  Slowey has now pitched in 104 games (94 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 39-31 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP.

The Marlins ran into a buzzsaw in Washington as the Nationals’ pitching staff dominated the season opening series.  The Marlins could only muster 1 run scored in 3 games as they only hit .167 with a .449 OPS as a team!  It’s almost impossible to win that way.  The bright spot for the Marlins was the work of their starting pitchers.  Ricky Nolasco, Kevin Slowey and Wade LeBlanc combined to go 0-3 with a 2.76 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.  The starting pitchers kept the Marlins in the three games against the Nationals, but they couldn’t hit and the bullpen didn’t look too good either.  It’s going to be a long, long season in 2013 for Marlins’ fans.

21-year old righty starting pitcher Jacob Turner has been solid so far in September for the Marlins. He has started 2 games for the Marlins so far this month and he is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP. Turner has now pitched in 4 games (all starts) for the Marlins so far this year and he is 1-2 with a 3.75 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP. Turner has only given up 16 hits (4 of them homers) and he has walked 3 batters while whiffing 17 batters in 24 innings for the Marlins. He has now pitched in 7 games (all starts) overall this year for the Tigers and Marlins in which he is 2-3 with a 5.20 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. The Marlins need Turner to finish the 2012 season strongly as he is a big part of the team’s future.

The Marlins made a lot of big moves last winter, but a smaller move has been paying off for them lately. The Marlins dealt backup catcher John Baker to the Padres for 28-year old lefty starter/reliever Wade LeBlanc. LeBlanc has replaced Carlos Zambrano in the Marlins’ rotation and he is 0-1 with a 1.76 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. He has now pitched in 14 games (3 starts) for the Marlins overall this year and he is 1-2 with a 1.45 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He has only given up 28 hits and 6 walks while whiffing 21 batters in 31 innings pitched, which is impressive. The Marlins hope that LeBlanc keeps up the good work.

The Miami Marlins made a big splash at the winter meetings when they signed 33-year old lefty starting pitcher Mark Buehrle, 29-year old switch-hitting shortstop Jose Reyes and 34-year old righty reliever Heath Bell. Only Buehrle has been earning all of his cash so far out of this trio. He has started 19 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 9-9 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He has only given up 124 hits and 19 walks while whiffing 77 batters in 125 2/3 innings this year, which is pretty impressive. I look for him to continue pitching well in the second half of the 2012 season for the Marlins. Jose Reyes was supposed to give the Marlins a lot of juice at the top of the batting order, but he hasn’t so far. He has played in 91 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 97 of 368 (.264 avg, .712 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 4 homers, 23 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. The Marlins are going to need Reyes to pick up the pace offensively if the Marlins are going to make a playoff run in the second half. Heath Bell was brought in to close for the Marlins, but he has already lost the job due to poor performance. Bell has pitched in 43 games (0 starts) for the Marlins so far this year and he is 2-5 with 19 saves, a 6.21 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP.

26-year old righty reliever Steve Cishek will likely get the first shot to replace Heath Bell as the Marlins’ closer. Cishek has pitched in 40 games (0 starts) for the Marlins so far this year and he is 4-1 with 2 saves, a 2.08 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. He has now pitched in 88 games (0 starts) in his first three years with the Marlins and he is 6-2 with 5 saves, a 2.30 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Cishek has the arm to succeed as the closer, if he can handle the pressure that goes with the gig.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez has been really sharp for the Marlins so far this year. He has started 8 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 2-2 with a 2.32 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has only given up 44 hits in 54 1/3 innings while whiffing 55 batters and only walking 14. Sanchez has now pitched in 122 games (121 starts) in his first seven years with the Marlins and he is 41-40 with a 3.61 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Sanchez is the often forgot about part of the Hanley Ramirez-Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell deal with the Red Sox, but he is starting to really make his mark for the Marlins.

30-year old righty starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano is locked in for the Marlins so far this year. Zambrano has started 6 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 1-2 with a 1.98 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He only has given up 28 hits in 41 innings so far this year with 32 whiffs and 14 walks. Zambrano is back to just pitching and he’s getting along well with Marlins’ manager Ozzie Guillen and his coaching staff. That bodes well for both Zambrano and the Marlins, who took a big chance on him by dealing for him with the Cubs over the winter.

The Miami Marlins signed 33-year old lefty starting pitcher Mark Buehrle to a 4-year, $58 million dollar deal over the winter and the early return on the investment has been good. He has started 4 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 1-3 with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He has given up 26 hits and 3 walks in his first 27 1/3 innings this year while whiffing 16 batters. Buehrle is going to need to start getting some run support to keep his streak of double digit win seasons going (it’s at 11 years right now).