The take out the Marlins superb play in May, where they won a franchise record 21 games in the month, the team has been a disappointment at just about every position.  The left side of the Marlins infield has 2 of the last 4 NL batting champions in Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes, but they are hitting .248 and .264 right now.  The Marlins had to make a trade for Carlos Lee because after being the Marlins best player to start the year last year, Gaby Sanchez has completely fallen apart in the last year and struggled to get his batting average above .200 this year.  John Buck has turned out to be just what I thought a year and a half ago when they signed him, a one hit wonder.  While people he is a decent defensive catcher and he does seem to work well with the pitching rotation, the Marlins signed him to a 3 year $18 million deal because of the year he had in Toronto in 2010 when he hit .281 with 20 home runs.  While he is good for a home run here and there, Buck is hitting just .176 this year and batted .227 last year.  The Marlins have also struggled with injuries as well with Emilio Bonifacio, who was leading MLB in stolen bases, has been out for about a month and a half with a thumb injury and now that he is set to come back on Friday, Giancarlo Stanton went down with a knee injury causing him to pull out of the Home Run Derby, the All-Star Game, and miss the next 4-6 weeks.

Despite leading the ;league in quality starts, and were the only team to only 5 different starting pitchers in the first half of the season the Marlins also have had their struggles on the pitching mound as well.  Mark Buehrle being the only starter having an ERA under 4, and only Ricky Nolasco has a above .500 record by going 8-6 in baseball's first half.  Hard to believe that a month a go this was arguably the best pitching staff in MLB with only Josh Johnson having an ERA above 4.  Then in the bullpen, which was actually a strength of the Marlins last year, fans are actually clambering for Juan Carlos Oviedo (better known as Leo Nunez) to return to the big leagues as the bullpen has been a disaster.  Of the relievers who have pitched more than 5 inning so far this year, only Steve Chisek and Randy Choate have ERA's under 4.40 (Chisek is 2.17 and Choate is 2.45).  Heath Bell has probably been the biggest disaster of all with 6 of the Marlins 13 blown saves (Marlins are 5th in MLB in total blown saves) and while hs does have 19 other saves, he has a 6.75 ERA and admitted that he is personally responsible for 10 of the Marlins losses this year.

However it is not all bad for the Marlins, they have gotten great play from Omar Infante, Giancarlo Stanton, Justin Ruggiano, and reserve players Greg Dobbs and Donovan Solano.  Just looking at the numbers, Omar Infante may have seen a drop in his numbers the last month but he is still batting .290 with 7 home runs, 30 RBI, and 8 stolen bases.  Giancarlo Stanton was the one selected member to go to the All-Star game because of the monster numbers he was starting to accumulate with a .284 average, 19 home run and 50 RBI, and one would have expected that Carlos Lee would have been great protection for Stanton in the lineup to start the 2nd half of the season until Stanton got hurt.  Then of course the biggest surprise has to be that of Justin Ruggiano.  A minor lleague outfielder in the Astros organization that the Marlins traded for after Emilio Bonifacio went down, has bated .390 with 6 home runs and 17 RBI.  The only minor silver lining to come out of the fact that Stanton went down the same time that Bonifacio is coming back off the DL is that this means that Ruggiano will still be able to get consistent starts.  With Carlos Lee being in the last year of his contract, if Ruggiano continues to perform their is a chance he could be the left fielder from the Marlins next year and the Marlins would move Logan Morrison to first base.

Miami Marlins first half ranking--

• Batting:  1st in Stolen Bases, 20th in Home Runs, 22nd in Slugging %, 24th in On Base %, 25th in Batting Average, 26th in Runs
• Pitching: 1st in Quality Starts, 5th in Blown Saves, 11th in Saves 20th in ERA, 21st in Wins, 27th in Strike Outs
• Fielding: 9th most errors, 19th in Fielding %

The Marlins come back form the All-Star break with a chance to cut into the 9 game deficit in the division with a four game series versus the Natioanls in Miami.

• Friday 7:10 at Marlins Park: Josh Johnson (5-5) vs Jordan Zimmerman (5-6)
• Saturday 7:10 at Marlins Park: Mark Buehrle (8-8) vs Gio Gonzalez (12-3)
• Sunday 1:10 at Marlins Park: Ricky Nolasco (8-6) vs Stephen Strasburg (9-4)
• Monday 7:10 at Marlins Park: Carlos Zambrano (4-7) vs Edwin Jackson (5-4)

Stanton is set to have the surgery Sunday morning at 7am to remove "loose bodies" from his right knee.  Thankfully it is not a real major surgery and should take about a hour to preform. 

Some what luckily for the Marlins, Bonifacio was already expected to come back up the the Majors after the All-Star game anyways, so he will replace Stanton on the 25 man roster.  This also means for the time being Justin Ruggiano, who is the Marlins hottest hitter, will continue to start in the outfield for the Marlins.

The Marlins has agreed to trade minor league third baseman Matt Dominguez and pitcher Rob Rasmussen for Carlos Lee, and the Astros are expected to pay the majority of the $9 million dollars that is owed to Lee this year.  Carlos Lee turned down a trade to the Dodgers last week, but seems willing to waive his no trade clause to come to Miami.  The 36 year old Lee is in the final year of a six-year $100 million dollar contract.

This move mean that most likely Gaby Sanchez will be sent down to Triple-A New Orleans until September.  Overall I'd say this move is a good one for the Marlins if they are able to turn this season around and make it to the playoff.  Gaby, although I am a huge fan of my fellow Hurricane, has been a big disappointment this year and has not improved his numbers since coming back from his previous minor league stint.  Meanwhile the Marlins are giving up a prospect in Matt Dominguez that will be sitting behind Hanley Ramirez for the next couple of year and still really struggles to hit consistently even in Triple-A.  Rasmussen on the other hand is a decent prospect, but it is doubtful he will be more than a number 3 starter when he makes it to the big leagues.

Their is no doubt that Carlos Lee is on the decline (home run total has dropped each of the last four years), but even still he batted .275 last year and is batting .286 this year, which automatically makes him one of the leaders in batting average on the Marlins.  Lee still has a little pop in his bat hitting five home runs and 29 RBI in an offense that is 20th in MLB in runs scored (Marlins are 27th), and he should hit nicely in the number four spot in the order offering protection for Giancarlo Stanton.

Possible Marlins Lineup with Lee:

1. Jose Reyes - SS
2. Hanley Ramirez - 3B
3. Giancarlo Stanton - RF
4. Carlos Lee - 1B
5. Omar Infante - 2B
6. Logan Morrison - LF
7. Justin Ruggiano/Emilio Bonifacio - CF
8. John Buck - C
9. Pitcher

Unlike April, the Marlins failures were both from the plate and on the mound.  The starting pitching, which had been by far the Marlins strength through the first two months, was horrible in June.  The Marlins had a 5.25 ERA in June (ranked 14th in NL), an opponents batting average of .275 (ranked 15th in NL), gave up 151 runs (ranked 15th in NL), and had only 176 strikeouts (tied for last in NL).  The only starter who actually lowered his ERA was Josh Johnson who went 2-2 in June with a 1.87 ERA and 33 strike outs.  The only other starter  who had a ERA under 5.70 ERA was Mark Buehrle with a 3.89 ERA, but his ERA was much higher until his last 2 starts where he gave up just 2 runs in 14 innings.

Hitting, however, has been a problem with the Marlins all season.  Looking at the lineup at the start of the season it looked like one of the most potent in the NL, but that has not been the case thus far.  The Marlins rank 28th in MLB in runs, 25th in batting average, 24th in on base percentage, 24ths in slugging percentage, and 24th in home runs.  The one catagory that the Marlins have excelled at is stolen bases, with 71 to lead the majors, and even with that the production has dropped off dramaticly since Bonifacio got hurt. 

Then the month of June just exacerbated some of those problems.  In the month only one every day player batted over .242, that would be Jose Reyes with a .283 average.  For other Marlins players it was a real struggle from the plate; Omar Infante .242, Giancarlo Stanton .242, Logan Morrison .238, Hanley Ramirez .227, John Buck .210, and Gaby Sanchez .189.  And even with that the Marlins were not particularly productive in their at bats.  Stanton and LoMo leading the team with 5 home runs in the month and only Reyes, Stanton, and LoMo had double digit RBI.  Luckily for the Marlins they did get some great production from its role players.  Greg Dobbs hit .298 in 47 at bats, Donovan Solano went .320 in 25 at bats, then their was Justin Riggiano who batted .400 in 50 at bats with 12 extra base hits including 2 home runs while only striking out 8 times.

And of course the one final cherry on top of all the bad things that happened with the Marlins had to have been Edward Mujica going to the DL with a broken toe on the final day of the month.  The Marlins have recalled Wade LaBlanc, who if you remember was almost unhittable this spring.

The Marlins have now won 5 of their last 7 including 4 in a row and now head to Milwakee for four games, and oddly four of the games are day games.

• Monday at 8:10 - Carlos Zambrano (4-6) vs Zack Greinke (9-2)
• Tuesday at 4:10 - Anibal Sanchez (4-6) vs Marco Estrada (0-3)
• Wednesday at 4:10 - Josh Johnson (5-5) vs Randy Wolf (2-6)
• Thursday at 2:10 - Mark Buehrle (7-8) vs Michael Fiers (3-2)

The Marlins offense had been hit or miss the first two games of the year, and while the Marlins have scored 30 runs in the last seven games, they averaged 1.73 runs per game in the previous 15.  Couple that with the fact that the two factors that really carried the Marlins in the first two months of their year (their starting pitching and base running) has been just as bad as their hitting this month.  With the exception of Heath Bell and Josh Johnson, no pitcher on the Marlins roster who has pitched more than 3 innings this month  has an ERA under 5.  Buehrle, Zambrano, Anibal and Nolasco were all dominant with ERAs in no higher than the 3.40 for most of April and May, but this month going into Sunday Anibal has a 8.06 ERA, Buehrle is at 5.48, Nolasco is at 7.66, and Zambrano is at 7.94.  The only good starter has been Josh Johnson, who after a slow start is just now hitting his stride.  In June JJ is 1-2 with a 2.18 ERA with 20 strike outs.

The Marlins were also the top base stealing team in the big leagues through the first two months of the season.  A large part of that had to do with Emilo Bonifacio, who was a base stealing machine before getting hurt, but with him out of the lineup the Marlins have turned into an average base running team.  This month the Marlins have a total of six stolen bases and have been caught stealing three times (all three times by Justin Ruggiano).  Of course a big part of the Marlins in ability to steal bases has to do with the team's inability to get on base.

In the month of June the Marlins have a total of four players hitting over .260 including pitcher Carlos Zambrano who is 2 for 4.  Jose Reyes is the only everyday player who is hitting consistently at .284, with the other two players being Justin Ruggiano (batting .359 in 39 at basts) and Donovan Solano (batting .320 in 25 at bats).  However in the last week the Marlins seem to have turned things around a bit scoring 30 runs in the last seven games and getting back to back quality starts from Johnson and Buehrle.  The Marlins have seen improvement from the plate in the last week with Omar Infante who after some major stuggles to start the month batting hit .400 , Dobbs has several big hits Sunday and is batting .286, and Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton both hitting a pair of home runs.

The one real good story to come from the Marlins this month has to be Justin Ruggiano, who like Donovan Solano, has proven to be a very valuable and productive player.  At about this time Ruggiano was playing in Triple-A in the Astros organization, then the Marlins decided they needed help in the outfield after Bonifacio went down so they traded for him.  Since joining the Marlins, Justin Ruggiano has had 40 major league at bats and he is hitting .350 with two home runs, six RBI, two double, a triple, and has made some outstanding defensive plays.  No doubt that if he keeps this up he will stay in the on the big league roster when Bonifacio is ready to return after the All-Star break.  With Ruggiano, Solano, Kearns, and Dobbs the Marlins will have one of the top benches in the major leagues, which will be a huge asset if the team can turn this season around.

After Hanley Ramirez called a team meeting after Saturday's loss, the Marlins played inspired on Sunday to get the 9-0 win.  Hopefully that inspired play will continue Monday as the team starts a three game series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Monday 7:10pm at Marlins Park- Ricky Nolasco (6-6) vs Jake Westbrook (6-6)
• Tuesday 7:10pm at Marlins Park- Carlos Zambrano (4-5) vs Kyle Loshe (6-2)
• Wednesday 7:10pm at Marlins Park- Anibal Sanchez (3-6) vs Joe Kelly (1-0)

• After Wednesday's loss the Marlins sent Chris Coghlan back down to Triple-A New Orleans and called Scott Cousins back up the Majors.  Since being called back uo in late May Coghlan hit just .153 in 59 at bats with one home run, 8 RBI (all in May) and 7 strikeouts.  Cousins a solid defensive center fielder has hit .292 in Triple-A with 7 home runs, but he does strike out quite a bit (48 times in 50 games this year).
• Also after the loss yesterday, one of the biggest stories was the back and forth yelling between Ozzie Guillen and Heath Bell.  It started because with 2 outs in the 9th of a blow out loss Ozzie pulled Heath Bell out of the game even though Bell wanted to finish the inning.  Ozzie says the only reason why he pulled him was because it was a meaningless inning and he did not want to over work him in case he needed to be used Friday night (Bell was at 19 pitches).  Things seem to be fine now as Bell said he "understand where Ozzie was coming from. I apologized and I don't mean any disrespect."
• A poll done by Men's Journal involving 100 major league players has named Ozzie Guillen the least respected manager and Giancarlo Stanton the player in the best shape. 
  • Ozzie got 36% of the vote with the magazine saying-- Players bristle that Guillen is "loud" and "can get under your skin." Says one opponent, "He loses it all the time." Adds another, "He always preaches that he backs his players, but he's been known to throw them under the bus." A rival reliever says, "You can't call your guys out every weekend, and he does that."
  • Stanton got 28% of the vote with the magazine saying-- "He's a real-life Under Armour mannequin," one major leaguer says, marveling at the 6-foot-5, 248-pound outfielder, a former USC football recruit whose off-season rituals include running the stairs at UCLA's track stadium. "He's not normal, not human." An NL slugger adds, "I don't think he has any body fat."
• Stanton maybe respected by many in the baseball community, but he is still being disrespected by many of the fans.  Despite statistically being one of the top NL outfielders, he is still not in the top 15 in the all star voting.
• Ozzie Guillen also came out on Tuesday that he does not expect to have center fielder Emilo Bonifacio back until after the All-Star break.  Bonifacio is a little more optimistic.  After having his stitches removed he said he plans to start swinging a bat in 8 days and will be reevaluated in the next two weeks.  

• Friday 7:10pm at Tampa Bay:  Carlos Zambrano (4-4) vs Matt Moore (3-5)
• Saturday 7:15pm at Tampa Bay:  Anibal Sanchez (3-5) vs James Sheilds (7-4)
• Sunday 1:40pm at Tampa Bay:  Josh Johnson (4-4) vs Alex Cobb (2-3)

• Monday 7:10 at Marlins Park:  Josh Johnson (3-4) vs. Josh Beckett (4-6)
• Tuesday 7:10 at Marlins Park:  Mark Buehrle (5-6) vs. Clay Buchholz (6-3)
• Wednesday 7:10 at Marlins Park:  Ricky Nolasco (6-4) vs Felix Doubront (6-3)

• What Baseball America Says-- "Scouts have raved about Heaney's quick arm and clean, effortless delivery since he was at Putnam City (Okla.) High. He beat Marlins first-rounder Chad James in a head-to-head matchup as a senior in 2009 and would have gone higher than the 24th round to the Rays had he not been intent on attending Oklahoma State. Heaney has led the Cowboys in wins in each of his three college seasons and has seen his stuff improve as a junior this spring. The 6-foot-2, 174-pounder has added 2-3 mph and touches 95 mph. He's not afraid to pitch inside with his heater and can spot it to both sides of the plate. Heaney's three-quarters breaking ball and his changeup are both solid pitches that play up because of his plus command. He not only throws strikes but also generates swings and misses, and in mid-May he trailed only projected Duke first-rounder Marcus Stroman in the NCAA Division I strikeout race. In a down year for left-handed pitching, Heaney is clearly the best college southpaw available and should go off the board in the middle of the first round."

3rd Round
104th Pick- SS Avery Romero, R/R 5'11" 195lbs from Pedro Menendez HS, FL

• "A shortstop in high school, most believe Romero will have to move to another position at the next level because he lacks the quickness to stay at short. He is not without defensive skills, though, with an outstanding arm and decent hands. How a team projects his bat might determine his defensive home as well as where he goes in the Draft. Those who see above-average power might put him at third and take him early. Or he could be more of an offensive-minded second baseman who hits for average and a little pop."

127th Pick- CF Kolby Copeland, L/R 6'0" 190lbs from Parkway HS, LA

• "One of the areas of depth in this Draft class appears to be in high school position players. Case in point is Copeland, a Louisiana prepster who was getting more buzz as the Draft approached The outfielder has tools that are somewhat comparable to first-round candidate Courtney Hawkins. Hawkins has more raw power, but some think Copeland is a better pure hitter. He runs well and has solid arm and fielding tools to with his considerable offensive potential. A quarterback who earned honorable mention all-state, Copeland was drawing some decision-makers to see him play as the spring wore on. He could continue shooting up boards until June."

4th Round137th Pick- OF Austin Dean, R/R 6'01" 190lbs from Klien Collins HS, TX

• "He may not be Exhibit A in a how-to video on batting stances and approaches, but Dean's ability to punish a baseball is the main reason he's in the Top 100. Dean has quick hands and strength, which leads to above-average raw power. He does it with an unorthodox swing and there are, as a result, some holes, but when he makes contact, it's hard. He goes all-out at all times, which allows him to use his solid average speed well. He's likely limited to first base or maybe left field at the next level because of fringy defensive tools. His size, bat speed and power potential lead to a Jonny Gomes comparison and the team that takes him will hope he lives up to that billing."

5th Round167th Pick- SS Austin Nola, R/R 6'00" 185lbs from LSU

6th Round197th Pick-  SS Anthony Gomez, R/R 6'00" 185lbs from Vanderbilt

7th Round
227th Pick- RHP Ryan Newell, R/R 6'02" from Shorter University in GA

8th Round
257th Pick- RHP Drew Steckenrider, R/R 6'05" 215lbs from University of Tennessee

9th Round
287th Pick- RHP Nicholas Wittgen, R/R 6'03" 210lbs from Purdue

10th Round
317th Pick- 3B Ron Miller, R/R 5'11" 205lbs from Junipero Serra HS, CA

11th Round
347th Pick- RHP Matthew Milroy, L/R 6'02" 185lbs from University of Illinois

12th Round
377th Pick- SS Christian Rivera, R/R 5'10" 165lbs from Escuela Nueva Superior Vocacional de Loiza

13th Round
407th Pick- RHP Logan Blake, R/R 5'10" 225lbs from Eastern Oklahoma State JC, OK

14th Round
437th Pick- C Michael Vauhgn, R/R 6'02" 190lbs from Fresno Pacific University

15th Round
467th Pick- OF Cody Keefer, L/R 6'01" 185lbs from UCLA

16th Round
497th Pick- RHP Brian Ellington, R/R 6'04" 200lbs from University of West Florida

17th Round
527th Pick- OF Garrett Keene, R/R 6'04" 190lbs from Brookhaven Academy, MS

18th Round
557th Pick- LHP Patrick Merkling, L/L 6'01" 193lbs from Lee University

19th Round
587th Pick- 3B Cody Gunter, L/R 6'03" 195lbs from Flower Mound HS, TX

20th Round
617th Pick- RHP Jordan Hillyer, R/R 6'02" 195lbs from Hebron Christian Academy, GA

21st Round
647th Round- LHP Hayden Fox, R/L 6'04" 200lbs from Oakland University

22nd Round
677th round- RHP Robert Ravago, R/R 6'01" from Arizona State

23rd Round
707th Pick- OF Cameron Flynn, L/R 6'00" 195lbs from University Of Kentucky

24th Round
737th Pick- 3B Matt Juengel, R/R 6'02" 185lbs from Texas A&M

25th Round
767th Pick- RHP Dane Stone, R/R 6'07" 225lbs from St. Thomas University

26th Round
797th Pick- RHP Colton Grant, R/R 6'04" 215lbs from Appalachian State

27th Round
827th Pick- RHP Justin Jackson, R/R 6'04" 201lbs from Sam Houston State

28th Round
857th Pick- RHP Casey McCarthy, R/R 6'04" 215lbs from Cal State - San Bernardino

29th Round
887th Round- RHP Blake Barnes, R/R 6'01" 186lbs from Oaklahoma State

30th Round
917th Round- C David Cruz, R/R 6'00" 201lbs 

31st Round
947th Pick- SS Lucas Hunter, R/R 5'11" 160lbs from Central Catholic HS, OR

32nd Round
977th Pick- RHP Ty Williams, R/R 6'02" 195lbs from Sulphur HS, OK

33rd Round
1007th Pick- RHP Steven Weber, R/R 6'07" 210lbs from Eastern Michigan University

34th Round
1037th Pick- 3B Patrick Clasussen, L/R 5'11" 190lbs from Washington State University

35th Round
1067th Round- CF Chad Christensen, R/R 6'03" 190lbs frim Nebraska

36th Round
1097th Pick- RHP Kendall Graveman, R/R 6'02" 185lbs from Mississippi State

37th Round
1127th Pick- OF Edward Sappelt, S/R 5'11" 175lbs from Southern Alamance HS, NC

38th Round
1157th Pick- LHP Michael Smith, L/L 6'02" 195lbs from Cumberland University

39th Round
1187th Pick- C Marcus Greene, R/R 5'11" 195lbs from Vista Del Lago HS, CA

40th Round
1217th Pick- SS Alex Polston, R/R 5'11" 175lbs from Carl Albert HS, OK