Recap of the 2019 Marlins

/0 Comments/in , /by

It’s hard to recap such a negative season, but here we go.

Let’s all be honest, no one expected the team to be any good whatsoever. We expected at least a 60-win season with many ups and downs. The Marlins finished the season with a 57-105 record which was pretty much expected.

I’m sure we would’ve loved to avoid 100 losses but it is what is, it did secure the third overall pick in the 2020 draft. But then, this recap would’ve probably been similar, anyway… 

There were definitely some bright spots for the Marlins this season. Just to name a few, Sandy Alcantara started to show what he can do, Jon Berti became the perfect utility man, Harold Ramirez did great in his rookie season, and Isan Diaz started to become comfortable at the major league level. Diaz started making lesser errors and showed comfort at the plate.

Here’s a recap of the positives of the season:

Sandy Alcantara

Alcantara was voted to represent the Marlins in the All-Star Game because of his start to the regular season. His Pre All-Star stats are as follows: 4-8 record, 3.82 ERA, 70 strikeouts, and an opponent batting average of .241. After the All-Star break, he hit a bump in the road where he started to show inconsistency in his fastball command and started to walk more batters. 

August he began to turn things around, in five games started he had a 3.03 ERA in 32.2 innings pitched with a 27:12 strikeout to walk ratio. September came along and he reached another level. In six games started, he had a 2-2 record with a 2.59 ERA in 41.2 innings pitched with a 35:9 strikeout to walk ratio. September became Sandy’s best month without a doubt.

Jon Berti

Jon Berti blossomed into the perfect utility man. He can play all positions in the infield and outfield. He also showcased his insane speed on the base paths. He swiped 17 bases this year, he would’ve swiped more but he spent some time on the IL. In 73 games played, he hit for a .273 average with six home runs and 24 RBIs. Berti is a nice surprise for the Marlins, he definitely made a case for a roster spot next season.

Isan Diaz

Isan Diaz is an interesting story. He absolutely tore up Triple-A pitching and earned himself a call up to the show back in August. He launched a home run off Jacob deGrom in his MLB debut but rookie struggles kicked in early. He was having trouble making routine plays and was uncomfortable at the plate. As he gained more experience he became more comfortable and didn’t think too much while on the field. He ended up finishing the season with a .173 average, five home runs, and 23 RBIs. Not the best stat line but he did only play 49 games while being completely tensed up. It should be fun to see how he plays next year.

Harold Ramirez

Harold Ramirez signed with the Marlins during the 2018 offseason and what a great sign he is. In 119 games, he hit for a .276 average, hit 11 home runs and drove in 50 RBIs. He definitely showcased why he was formerly a Top 100 prospect when he was in the Blue Jays organization. He can play all three outfield positions and has a very decent defense. He without a doubt became a fan favorite for Marlins fans and earned a roster spot for the 2020 season.

Your 2019 Marlins were not the best but they did show improvement. They may have lost six more games this year than they did in 2018 but the pitching held its own and we got to see some rookies showcase their ability. The club next season will be more competitive than it was this year and it’s going to be more fun with more rookies making their debuts and some new faces from free agency…

We will be here to recap when they win the World Series…

Heat Camp: the best of Miami’s first day of training

/0 Comments/in /by

Heat Camp is on its way!

And we are as excited as you to follow how the Miami Heat works towards a new season that comes with lots of expectations.

I made the trip to West Palm Beach for the opening of Miami Heat training camp at the former Northwood University — which is now Keiser. The media saw only the last couple of plays of the scrimmage before Erik Spoelstra and the players were made available.

Here are my observations from both Twitter accounts…

 

 

Alabama Athletics

Dolphins have first-overall pick in latest Tankathon Mock Draft

/1 Comment/in , /by

Tankathon is our new friend.

“Finally, the Dolphins, have come back, to the top of the draft order”

We are officially a quarter of the way through the 2019 NFL season, and the Miami Dolphins have finally landed at the top of the 2020 draft order.  Their recent loss to the Los Angeles Chargers dropped them 0-4 on the season.  Which means, they have their pick of the litter when it comes to the highly coveted 2020 QB class.

According to Tankathon’s latest mock draft, Miami finally gets the QB they covet – selecting Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa with the first-overall pick.  In 2019, Tagovailoa has thrown for 1,738 yards and 23 touchdowns with a staggering 0 interceptions.  He’s good.  Very good. However, if you’d like to follow the other QBs in this year’s class, you can find our tracker HERE. Thanks Tankathon!

(Editor’s note: If you’d like to support the Dolphins race for Tua Tagovailoa, we have the perfect shirt for you!)

But that’s not the only pick Miami has in the first-round.  After all, they will head into April’s draft with a war chest of draft picks, including three first-round picks.  Based on Tankathon’s updated draft order, Miami also has pick #6 and #25.

Aside from Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins also select Iowa pass-rusher A.J Epenesa and Florida CB C.J Henderson.

Truth is, there’s still a ton of football to be played, and no one knows how things will shape up between now and next April.  But what we do know, is that the Dolphins have the chance to jump-start their rebuild, by acquiring talented players in the first-round.  Miami isn’t one player away.  Which is why the Dolphins’ front office thought it was necessary to stockpile draft picks.

In the end, no one knows how the draft order will shape up.  We also don’t know how Chris Grier and the rest of the Dolphins’ organization view this year’s class.  But what we do know is that if Miami wants to land a once in a generation passer, they will need to continue down their current path.  After all, they are on pace to be the worst team in NFL history.  Which means everything is going EXACTLY as planned.

#TankForTua

 

Josh Houtz (@houtz) is a die-hard fan of the Miami Dolphins, and has fallen in love with  Tua Tagovailoa.

The best of an energized Erik Spoelstra press conference

/0 Comments/in /by

Somebody’s happy again. Welcome back, Spoelstra.

If you’ve followed my feed, you’ve known that Erik Spoelstra just hasn’t seemed quite the same the past couple of years. A mismatched roster. A max player who didn’t always go with the program. Too many low-upside players who played the same position.

Well, that’s changed.

Here’s the best of Spoelstra’s very confident, very positive 2019 Miami Heat media day press conference.

 

 

Charles Harris

Dolphins’ pass-rushers hungry for more

/0 Comments/in , /by

As many expected, the Miami Dolphins fell to the Los Angeles Chargers 30-10 at home on Sunday.  And despite looking like the better team for the better part of the first half, the team reverted back to their old ways at halftime.  But it wasn’t all doom and gloom on this day. One player in particular that stood out, was Dolphins’ pass-rusher Taco Charlton.

Charlton, the former 28th-overall pick of the 2017 draft, was claimed off of waivers two weeks ago after being released by Dallas. On Sunday, he recorded his second sack of the young 2019 season, putting him atop the team leader-board for sacks in 2019.

After the game, Charlton had this to say about his team’s ability to get some pressure on Chargers’ QB Phillip Rivers.

‘We got some but Iike I said, I’m never satisfied. I want more. It’s not enough. Like I said, we’ve got to help each other out. The d-line, we’ve got to put pressure to help that secondary out and vice versa. I think it’s something for us to build off of. Keep working and get back to work and like I said, get ready after this bye week to get a win.”

He was then asked his thoughts about the final score, and the displeasure he showed as he walked off the field.

 “It’s never satisfying.  I’m a competitor, so I like to win. Just having that feeling, I just hate seeing us lose, especially when I feel like we could have done some things that could have changed the outcome. It’s something for us to build off of and come back after this bye week ready to go. ”

Another former first-round pick that the Dolphins had high hopes for in 2019, is pass-rusher Charles Harris.  Harris was selected six spots ahead of Charlton in the 2017 draft. Unfortunately, his career hasn’t lived up to his high expectations.  In fact, Charlton is one sack away from tying Harris total over his first three seasons in Miami.

When asked what he thought about Miami’s pass rush on Sunday, Harris had this to say.

“I think we definitely did a good job of caging him in. He’s a great quarterback, so we have to do a better job of hitting him more and more. He’s a tough guy. He got a couple passes out there. We just have to keep on him.”

Harris was then asked what the tone in the locker room is after starting the season 0-4.

“Back to work. That’s the number one thing. Training follows wherever the leader goes. I think (Head) Coach ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) isn’t giving up in terms of us working hard and getting back to the basics, correcting and things like that. I think right now it’s just hard work. I think everyone knows we have to come back in tomorrow, make the corrections, and get back to the grind. Enjoy the bye week and come back and come back to work.”

The Dolphins will now have 13 days to correct their mistakes, before taking on the Washington Redskins–in what many are calling the “Tua Bowl”.

Josh Houtz (@houtz) is a die-hard fan of the Miami Dolphins. He loves to put sriracha & cilantro on his Taco Charlton.

 

Miami Dolphins now 0-4, outscored 81-0 in second half

/0 Comments/in /by

There’s only so long the dam can hold. Right, Miami?

We’ve now seen that two straight weeks with the Miami Dolphins, as they were competitive in Sunday’s first half against the depleted Los Angeles Chargers — just as they were frisky in last Sunday’s first half in Dallas against the Cowboys — only to collapse again in the second.

This time, a 17-10 halftime deficit became a 30-10 loss, dropping Miami’s record to 0-4.

Here’s a recap, from myself and Craig Davis of @DolphinMaven…

A couple of statistics stand out…

Miami has now been outscored 81-0 in the second half of its first four games.

Yes, 81-0.

And opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating over 130, after Philip Rivers topped that number Sunday.

The players didn’t have much to say in the locker room, but here was some of the best of it…

DeVante Parker, who had the only touchdown, just the Dolphins’ second of the season as they enter the bye…

Relative newcomer Taco Charlton, who had a sack…

And Kenyan Drake, who had only nine carries, and doesn’t seem long for this place…

Next up?

A week off.

Then similarly 0-4 Washington.

And this is an absolute must-loss. Yes, the Redskins just took Dwayne Haskins, but if they pick first, they can flip the pick to a team that wants to jump the Dolphins. Or could hold out for a huge package from Chris Grier and Miami.

After all, we know what this is about…

After Tua Tagovailoa threw seven (seven!) touchdowns for Alabama against Ole Miss on Saturday, with Grier on hand to watch, it’s apparent that every effort will be made to secure the future star. Even if quarterback, with Josh Rosen playing reasonably well, doesn’t appear to be the Dolphins’ biggest weakness.

Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will be around a while

/0 Comments/in /by

If you ask Erik Spoelstra, he’ll tell you he could have been fired three times.

At least three times.

Once when the Miami Heat were recruiting LeBron James and Chris Bosh, after Spoelstra had taken his first two Heat teams to the playoffs — but first round exits. If James had demanded Pat Riley or someone else be the coach, what would Riley have done?

Another time, when the Heat started 9-8, and held a players’ only meeting in Dallas.

And of course, when the Heat — mostly due to James’ meltdown — lost to the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals.

But he hung in, and he’s still here, now the second longest-tenured coach with one team in the entire NBA, a few days ahead of Rick Carlisle and a few years behind Gregg Popovich. Spoelstra has been outspoken about how quickly teams give up on coaches — it’s about the only thing he’s outspoken about. He, however, has never had the problem. And he won’t, after the Heat did this officially on Saturday:

Woj and Erik Spoelstra are represented by the same agency, so it’s not a surprise it was spilled that way. Coach contracts are one of the Miami Heat’s most closely-guarded secrets.

Spoelstra has seemed weary the past couple of seasons, and it’s probably been about more than his new baby. He had to play a lot of guys for contractual reasons. But now he has a true star again in Jimmy Butler, someone who shares his sensibilities. The roster is much less cluttered. And Hassan Whiteside, and all the moping, is gone.

What will be interesting now is to see how involved Spoelstra will get in personnel matters. He’s had more influence in recent years, but the Heat have about eight cooks stirring that pot.

Either way, he’s here to stay — and the Heat are better for it.

Can the Dolphins finally come within two touchdowns?

/0 Comments/in /by

The Dolphins are making progress, at least in one way: they are losing by less touchdowns.

Yes, they’re an enormous underdog again Sunday, after losing their first three games by a historically lopsided combined score by a 133-16, scoring 10 fewer points in three contests than Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has scored in any one game in his career.

And of course, they’ve been setting records when it comes to point spreads. They were 20-plus-point underdogs in Weeks 2 and 3, and still lost ATS (against the spread) both times. Back home to face the Chargers in Week 4, oddsmakers have the Fins as mere 16.5-point underdogs at some sites (16 at others). Odds on each sportsbooks may be a little different but, according to Sports Betting Dime, there are a few that consistently rank at the top of the list.

If luck is on your side, a straight-up Miami win will pay out at about +700 on average so shop and compare a few of the listed sites before you go chasing after that payout.

Expect even more money to come in on the Chargers late in the game, now that this has happened:

Also, while the Chargers fans don’t travel particularly well — most of their old San Diego fans don’t even go up the 405 to Los Angeles — it’s likely that many Dolphins fans will stay home Sunday. It’s Josh Rosen’s first home start, and maybe that has some appeal. But this entire process is painful, and it’s not clear Rosen is even part of the future anyway.

Who wants to watch your team get bludgeoned week after week?

The good news — or bad news if you’re in favor of the tank — is that the Dolphins schedule loosens up considerably after the bye. The Bengals, the Jets, the Giants. There are wins to be had, maybe, if the Dolphins even want them.

But for now, you can make this exercise more interesting by betting for the Dolphins to come within a couple of touchdowns.

Or not.

Pat Riley: “Jimmy Butler is a top 10 player”

/0 Comments/in /by

Pat Riley weighed on the new Miami Heat players right after Jimmy Butler’s introductory press conference.

For him, and for many of us, Butler is a top ten player in today’s NBA.

But he talked a lot about many other things.

Check out his most relevant quotes from today’s appearance:

 

Join us on Monday September 30th when we cover the Miami Heat Media Day at American Airlines Arena. Five on the Floor and Cinco Razones Deportes Network members will be there bringing you the highlights of the day we were all waiting for, since the Miami Dolphins and the Miami Marlins are just terrible nowadays. Do not worry. Your Miami Heat coverage is right here!

The best quotes from Jimmy Butler’s Press Conference

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Miami Heat finally gave us a chance to hear from Jimmy Butler in Miami.

Here are some of his best quotes during the Press Conference:

 

The Miami Heat season is getting closer and closer, and as we said goodbye to Dwyane Wade, now we have a new star in the block. Butler is coming to try to win, and Five Reasons Sports Network will be there for you to bring you the fun of watching and listening sports back to South Florida. Buy your Ji mmy Canastas t-shirt here!