2014 Miami Marlins

2014 Miami Marlins / Franchise: Miami Marlins / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 77-85, Finished 4th in NL Eastern Division (2014 NL)

Coaches: Brett Butler, Reid Cornelius, Chuck Hernandez, Perry Hill, Rob Leary and Frank Menechino

Season Highlights[edit]

After a trying season in 2013, the 2014 Miami Marlins started the year on the right foot on March 31st by defeating the Colorado Rockies, 10-1, before the highest crowd ever at Marlins Park, 37,116. Jose Fernandez, the youngest Opening Day starter in the major leagues since Dwight Gooden had opened the New York Mets' season in 1986, had a great performance, giving up a single run in 6 innings while striking out 9, the most-ever by a Marlins pitcher on opening day. After scoring the fewest runs in the National League the year before, the Marlins collected 14 hits in that game; Casey McGehee, back in the majors after a year in Japan, had a pair of doubles and drove in four runs, while Marcell Ozuna had three hits including a homer. The Marlins then also won their second game the next day, 4-3, behind another strong pitching performance, this time by Nathan Eovaldi. While the Marlins finished the month of April in last place in the NL East, there were clear signs of improvement over their previous season. For one they were only a game below .500 at 13-14, and their starting pitching had been excellent with all four of their top starters sporting ERAs under 3.00: Fernandez at 1.59, Eovaldi at 2.58, Tom Koehler at 2.97 and Henderson Alvarez at 2.73. They were also in the middle of their longest home winning streak since moving to Marlins Park, which reached 6 games when they completed a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves with a 5-4 win on May 1st.

When the Marlins defeated the Mets, 1-0, on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Ozuna on May 7th, it was already their 6th shutout of the year, and completed a homestand in which they went 8-1. Combined with their earlier success at home, their record at Marlins Park was now a sparkling 17-5. No longer a laughingstock, they were tied for first place in the NL East with the Washington Nationals at that point. The test was whether they could now take their show on the road, where they had lost 10 of their first 12 games. However, things began to turn sour at that point, with Miami losing three of its first four games on the following road trip, then placing young ace Fernandez on the disabled list on May 12th with what was likely a season-ending elbow injury. But the young Marlins managed to overcome that blow, and were still battling for the lead in the NL East with the Atlanta Braves in early June. When they defeated the Texas Rangers, 7-5, on June 10th, it improved the team's record in interleague games to 8-0 on the year; as the Marlins had won their last five interleague contests in 2013, they set a new National League mark with 13 straight such wins, tying the all-time record set by the 2004 New York Yankees and the 2004 Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The streak ended on June 11th when they were shut out by Yu Darvish, 6-0.

The Marlins managed to hang around the .500 mark until the end of July, boosted by a stretch in which they won 9 of 10 games after the All-Star break, and as a result were in the unfamiliar position to be buyers when the trade deadline rolled around on July 31st. They were looking for another starting pitcher, although they were unwilling to get into the bidding for some of the bigger names that moved around that day. In the end, they pulled a trade with the Houston Astros, getting the pitcher they wanted in Jarred Cosart, along with IF/OF Enrique Hernandez and minor leaguer Austin Wates in return for prospects Jake Marisnick, Colin Moran and Francis Martes. On August 17th, they won their 62nd game of the season, 10-3 over the Arizona Diamondbacks, to match their total from the previous year. That put them back at .500 for the first time since July 29th, the only day they at reached the break-even mark since the end of June.