MIAMI — In a sea of more than 3,500 words over a span of a 30-plus minute conference call this week, three words from Miami Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill stand out above all else.
“Why not us?”
Under normal circumstances, the Marlins would likely once again be long shots for the playoffs this season regardless of the internal optimism the organization has as it maneuvers through the third year of its rebuild under the Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter ownership group.
But now? With the usual 162-game marathon replaced with a 60-game sprint sure to be filled unknowns and unpredictability due to the coronavirus pandemic? The unlikely suddenly becomes possible.
Throw out conventional logic. Ignore the perceived conceptions.
A hot start to the season and some luck along the way could feasibly give any team — Miami included — a shot at making the playoffs this year.
And the Marlins aren’t backing down from the chance to be dark horse contenders in the unprecedented run that will be the 2020 MLB season.
“In a sprint,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “anything happens. … Guys get hot. Momentum gets going. Anything can happen. So I think the scenario for us at this point as an organization gets us as good of a shot as anyone.”
This is uncharted territory for the Marlins, winners of two World Series but zero National League East titles. Miami has never led its division with 60 or fewer games to go in a season.
So this mad dash to the playoffs, one that starts July 23 or 24, will provide a young Marlins roster an opportunity to be a realistic competitor for a playoff spot late in the season for the first time since 2016, when they were within four games of the eventual division winner Washington Nationals after 105 games before going 22-34 to close the season.
“We’re in a pennant race,” Mattingly said. “It’s exciting to be in a pennant race, and our guys are going to get great experience because it’s a different style of baseball you’ll be playing.”
Now, to be fair, the Marlins would have likely exuded this confidence had the season gone on under its normal setting. Miami was building optimism all spring before the coronavirus shut down camp two weeks before Opening Day was initially scheduled and before the season was truncated in a way that could benefit them.
Their top prospects who have been groomed in the minor leagues over the past two years have hit the top levels and were impressing at big-league camp.
But that optimism only remains if the Marlins can get off to a strong start. Unlike the Washington Nationals last year or the Marlins’ World Series team in 2003, where a strong finish will make up for a slow start. Both the ’03 Marlins and the 2019 Nationals were 27-33 after the 60-game mark.
“The importance of every game gets jacked up because of the shortness of the season,” Mattingly said. “So, again, this is more of a sprint-type season, not a long-range view to things. Things will be different. We have to get our guys to overcome that right away.
So they will need their young starting pitching rotation, led by Sandy Alcantara, to build off last season’s growth to keep the Marlins competitive. Miami’s main core of starting pitchers are already built up to throw four to five innings at a time.
They will need their offense to be considerably better after finishing last in MLB in home runs (146) and on-base plus slugging (.673), second to last in runs scored (615) and 25th in batting average (.241) a year ago. That starts with veteran offseason additions Jonathan Villar, Corey Dickerson and Jesus Aguilar, who were added to fill three of the top four spots in the lineup along with rising third baseman/right fielder Brian Anderson.
That means doing what they did the first time they won a World Series in 1997, when they started 35-25 — the best 60-game start to a season in franchise history. The then-Florida Marlins went 8-1 to open the season and had three separate winning streaks of at least five games during that starting stretch.
Or, in possibly the Marlins’ best interest, it means the start of the season replicating what happened in 2014 or 2004. Those were the only two times in franchise the Marlins either outright led or were tied for the division lead through 60 games. Miami had a 32-28 record in 2014 and a 34-26 mark in 2004 after 60 games.
Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas likens the shortened MLB season to one he usually played in winter ball leagues in Venezuela. They are typically about 62-64 games, so the sense of urgency is heightened from the start.
“There’s no way to think that you’re not going to have a chance to win a championship when every ballgame is meaningful,” Rojas said. “I know it’s a different league and at a different level, but it’s the same kind of schedule.”
The Marlins will need that sense of urgency considering the daunting schedule they’ll face.
Miami’s 60-game schedule, which is expected to be released next week, will have 10 games apiece against its four divisional rivals — the Braves, Mets, Nationals and Phillies — and 20 games against the American League East, which features the World Series runner-up Yankees another pair of contenders in the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox.
“We know it’s going to be a battle,” Hill said, “and whatever that schedule is we’ll be ready to go when the bell rings.”
The bell rings in three weeks, and the 60-game dash commences.
“We’re in the mode of ‘We’re gonna go for it,’” Mattingly said. “That’s gonna be the first priority.”
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