The baseball community doesn't agree on much, but it agrees on this: the Miami Marlins are going to be bad.
The Marlins spent the winter stripping their roster of its best parts: Giancarlo Stanton is gone, as are Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, and Dee Gordon. What remains is a mishmash of players the Marlins have not yet traded and players the Marlins cannot trade. It's going to be a long year for Miami baseball fans -- and the reality will set in quicker than expected.
That's because the Marlins are facing a number of injuries that will weaken their already poor Opening Day roster: right-handed starter Dan Straily was placed on the disabled list due to an elbow strain, and catcher J.T. Realmuto and shortstop J.T. Riddle could soon follow:
Add in how the Marlins will also be without third baseman Martin Prado and lefty starter Wei-Yin Chen, and there are going to be a lot of unfamiliar names on the Marlins' initial 25-man roster.
To wit, Roster Resource's latest projection has the Marlins starting Tomas Telis at catcher, Brian Anderson at the hot corner, and Miguel Rojas at shortstop. The bench is set to include J.B. Shuck and Scott Van Slyke. Big whoop, you say, you've heard of both. But you haven't heard of Peter Mooney, a 27-year-old who posted a .598 OPS last season in Triple-A and who is expected to be the primary reserve infielder. The rotation and bullpen aren't much better, either. There's Odrisamer Despaigne, Jacob Turner, and Elieser Hernandez, among others. Oy.
The good news for the Marlins is that Straily's injury isn't believed to be serious. He, along with Realmuto, are two of the better trade pieces the Fish have on hand. The better news is that none of this matters. The sun could burn out tomorrow and the Marlins wouldn't finish too far off their projected marks.