Wild Numbers from Marlins Postseason Push

The Miami Marlins clinched their first postseason berth since 2003 last night. Their 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees, coupled with Philadelphia’s 6-4 loss to the Rays, punched the Marlins’ ticket. In a 60-game rollercoaster of a season, the Marlins strapped in and produced some of the most incredible numbers in the sport.

THE 2020 MIAMI MARLINS ARE POSTSEASON BOUND. #JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/TEdhm6mk4y

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) September 26, 2020

Baseball is a game of numbers. Books have been written and movies have been made about them. Organizations sport robust analytics departments dedicated to digging through and pulling meaning from the numbers.

Here’s a look at some of the wild numbers from the Marlins postseason push.

16

It’s been 16 seasons since the last Miami Marlins team made the postseason. With Friday night’s win, the Marlins punched their playoff ticket for the first time since 2003 and for just the third time in franchise history. The other two times, the Marlins entered the postseason as a Wild Card and went on to win the World Series. In 2020, they finished second in the NL East, as they did in 1997 and 2003.

16 was also the jersey number of Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez, who passed away four years ago yesterday. Fernandez’s infectious spirit during his playing days brought joy to so many, and his loss changed the course of this franchise. Marlins manager Don Mattingly admitted the day as an emotional one, prior to the game. Mattingly said his wife sent him a picture of him and Jose, and also revealed he’s worn a bracelet with the #16 on it ever since. Mattingly also adjusted his workouts routines to be 16 reps instead of 15.

“It would be something that would be special,” Mattingly said pregame of clinching a playoff spot on the day Jose passed. And that’s exactly what this club did.

21

The Marlins have used 21 rookies this season during their improbably playoff run. This youth movement helped Miami navigate the tough times in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak to start the season. These players injected energy and life into the club and helped the Marlins rally from the difficult situation to start.

Of the 21 rookies, 18 of them made their MLB debuts. The 18 debuts came within the team’s first 44 games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, entering 2020, no team in Major League history had as many debuts over a team’s first 60 games.

23

The Marlins started the 2020 season by packing for a five-day trip. The road trip should have taken the team from Atlanta to Philadelphia, then home for their season opener. Unfortunately, that five-day sojourn morphed into a 23-day odyssey.

The COVID-19 outbreak quarantined the club in Philadelphia for more than a week and more than half of the roster needed to be supplemented with moves. 18 players were placed on the injured list, and when the team resumed play in Baltimore, more than half of the Opening Day roster had been turned over.

Only five players have been on the active roster the entire season: Jesús Aguilar, Brian Anderson, Brad Boxberger, Brandon Kintzler and Pablo López.

46.5

The Marlins seem to do their best work in the clutch. Entering the weekend, the club has scored 46.5 percent of their runs with two outs this season, the highest such percentage in MLB.

Before Friday’s game, the Marlins entered batting .249 (151-for-607) this season with two outs, seventh-highest mark in the Majors and fifth in the NL. Miami’s .343 OBP with two outs is fifth best in the Majors in 2020. These clutch hits buoyed the Marlins postseason push throughout the season.

50

The Marlins have stolen 50 bases this season, second most in the Majors behind only San Diego (52). Have been caught just once in their last 20 stolen base attempts. Miami stole 55 bases in all of 2019, good for 23rd overall. The Marlins have led the Majors in stolen bases three times previously: 2000 (168), 2002 (177) and 2003 (150).

Jonathan Villar had nine steals with the Marlins, and Jon Berti has eight this season. Monte Harrison has six. No other player has more than five, but 13 different Marlins have stolen at least one bag.

The Marlins stolen home three times this season. MLB’s other 29 teams have done it a total of once.

61

The Marlins have used 61 players this season. The team has made 175 roster moves. Of the 61 players to don a Marlins uniform during this postseason push, 37 have been pitchers, including 28 different relievers and 13 different starting pitchers.

The Marlins started nine different pitchers in their first nine games this season, setting a new MLB record in that regard. And 52 of the team’s 59 games have been started by pitchers 25-years-old or younger.

105

In 2019, the Marlins went 57-105. The sported the worst record in the National League and were among the worst teams in all of baseball. Injuries and ineffective play littered the season, but in 2020, everything changed. With this postseason berth, the Marlins become just the second team in MLB history to go from 100-plus losses in the previous year to the playoffs. The 2019 Marlins are the worst team by record to ever clinch a playoff spot the following season.

The Marlins had a less than one percent chance to make the playoffs, and most baseball pundits picked the Marlins to finish last in the NL East. The team was called “bottom feeders” by some and rallied around that label, making it a motto.

“It’s pushed us,” Lewis Brinson said Saturday morning. “We knew going into Spring Training that no one believed in us.”

Some other Marlins Postseason Numbers

• The Marlins have 58 home runs in 58 games in 2020, averaging a homer every 32.12 ABs. It’s the team’s second-highest such mark in the last 12 years, behind 2017 (28.88).
• The Marlins are 19-13 (.613) on the road this season, the third-best road winning percentage in the Majors and the third-most road wins in behind the Dodgers (22) and Rays (20). The Marlins had a 27-54 (.333) road record in 2019, and have secured a winning road record for the first time since 2009 (44-37, .543).
• Due to makeup games, the Marlins will play 34 road games in 2020 – 57% of their scheduled contests.
• The Marlins are 11-8 (.579) in one-run games this season. That’s tied with Milwaukee for most one-run wins among NL teams in 2020. Miami had 9 one-run wins in all of 2019.
• The Marlins have been able to come out victorious when they have the lead late in games, going 27-0 in contests in which they are up on their opponents entering the sixth inning. According to Elias, only one team – Atlanta at 27-0 – has as many such wins without a loss in 2020.

These numbers come courtesy of the Miami Marlins and MLB.com.