Archive for Marlins

Five Things I Liked (Or Didn’t Like) This Week, April 11

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Welcome to another edition of Five Things I Liked (Or Didn’t Like) In Baseball This Week. I was at a wedding this past weekend, a generally fun event for a baseball writer. That’s because strangers ask me what I do, and then I get to say, “I’m a baseball writer.” That plays a lot better than, “I work in accounting/finance/tech,” no offense to any of you in those fine fields. But this weekend, someone inquired deeper. “Oh, like sabermetric stuff?” “Yeah! Kind of. Also I make GIFs of dumb and/or weird plays. And bunts, lots of bunts.” Yes, it’s a strange job being a baseball writer, but also a delightful one, and this week delivered whimsy and awe in equal amounts. So unlike guests milling around at a wedding, let’s get straight to the point – after the customary nod to Zach Lowe of The Ringer for the inspiration for this article format.

1. Not Reaching Home
The third time a runner was tagged out at the plate in Wednesday’s Cardinals-Pirates clash came at a pivotal moment. Locked in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 11th, Pittsburgh finally looked like it would break through when Joey Bart singled to right. But, well:

That was a good throw by Lars Nootbaar and a clean catch by Pedro Pagés, and that combination turned a close play into a gimme. I mean, how often are you going to be safe when the catcher already has the ball in his glove and you’re here:


Read the rest of this entry »


What Can Peter, Paul and Mary Teach Us About Roster Construction?

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

We have all kinds of fantastic stats for tracking player performance, metrics that are descriptive, predictive and somewhere in between. Today, I would like to introduce a descriptive stat for the folks on the team who do not wear spikes. Think of this as an attempt to measure the performance of management by trying to quantify the work of the front office and coaching staff using a folky metaphor.

Oh, Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist, in a land called Honah Lee

Baseball is a game for kids. The best of the best get to frolic in the autumn mist in a Honah Lee called the World Series. Baseball has many reasons to favor youth, some structural to the game as a business and others more existential, like Peter, Paul and Mary sing about.

Team control and the aging process conspire to make young, developing players the most valuable to the ballclub. Their income constraints mean that youngsters can rack up surplus value if they hit their ceiling, and are an inexpensive sunk cost at worst. The best baseball exists in the sweet spot between the physicality of youth and the skill earned through repetition. Not exactly revolutionary, but my stat builds from the logic that you want to play guys who can either contribute to wins this season or might develop into contributors in the future. Additionally, I am assuming that playing time at the major league level is far better for evaluation and development than the upper minors due to the quality of competition as well as the availability of data, scouting tools and other resources, though obviously that might vary depending on the org and the player. Here is where Peter, Paul and Mary, darlings of the Greenwich folk scene of the 1960s, come into play. Read the rest of this entry »


Job Posting: Miami Marlins – Multiple Openings

Direct links to applications (please see job details below):

Senior Data Scientist
Baseball Analyst


Senior Data Scientist

Location: Miami · FL

Company Overview
At the Miami Marlins, we make waves — on and off the field.

We’re built for sustainable success thanks to our commitment to be great teammates, bold innovators, and thinking long-term. These three pillars guide us in championing a winning culture across the organization. The work we do doesn’t just impact our team — it reaches fans and communities across South Florida.

Position Summary
As a Senior Data Scientist in Baseball Research, you will be responsible for supporting the department in developing sophisticated statistical models, advancing our ability to forecast player performance, and translating insights into actionable recommendations for the Miami Marlins front office. This role involves prioritizing and executing research requests, creating innovative models, and collaborating with other departments across baseball operations. Strong statistical modeling skills, technical expertise, ability to communicate to technical and non-technical audiences, and a passion for baseball are essential for success in this position.

Essential Functions

  • Construct advanced statistical models to support decision-making within Baseball Operations.
  • Convert key baseball (and physical) concepts into metrics, features, and insights for consumption by the Baseball Solutions and Baseball Research departments, as well as those outside of R&D.
  • Develop and maintain production pipelines for daily implementation of statistical models.
  • Collaborate with other analysts, engineers, and stakeholders to identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Manage and clean large datasets from various sources.
  • Provide actionable insights through detailed statistical analysis.
  • Assist with recruiting and evaluating applicants to join the Baseball Research team.
  • Provide mentorship and guidance to other analysts on the Baseball Research team.
  • Create and maintain documentation outlining departmental best practices.

Our Values
We Are Great Teammates

  • Supports and encourages colleagues.
  • Provides and receives feedback without judgement or ego.
  • Holds one another to a high standard.
  • Provides help and encouragement proactively.
  • Assumes positive intentions from others. 
  • Looks for ways to help make their teammates better.

We Are Innovators

  • Embraces a growth mindset.
  • Challenges conventional wisdom.
  • Unafraid to fail.
  • Pushes boundaries and doesn’t accept impossible.
  • Asks why and asks why not.

We Think Long-Term

  • Asks: what can I do today that will pay off a year from now. 
  • Eschews instant gratification for bigger benefits in the future.
  • Always trying to think three steps ahead.

Skill Requirements

  • Expertise in advanced modeling approaches (Bayesian methods, neural networks, time-series forecasting)
  • Experience with probabilistic programming languages (Stan, PyMC)
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
  • Strong proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
  • Collaborative mindset and willingness to work in a team environment.
  • Willingness to relocate to Miami and commute to loanDepot Park.
  • Familiarity with public baseball research.
  • Experience with Git and cloud-based computing.
  • Demonstrated mentorship experience is preferred.

Education & Experience Guidelines

  • Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related quantitative field. Graduate degree is preferred.
  • 5+ years of experience in a data analysis role is preferred.
  • Note that education may be considered in lieu of experience and vice-versa.
  • Extensive experience in a baseball or sports-related environment is preferred.

Work Environment

  •  Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.
  • Occasional travel may be required.
  • Standard office working conditions with extended periods of sitting and working on a computer.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

Job Questions

  1. Provide a link to your favorite piece of baseball research. It can be a blog post, Twitter thread, peer-reviewed article, or anything else. Include a brief summary of your key takeaways, along with any improvements you would suggest or further research you would like to complete. Please limit your response to 200 words or less.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.


Baseball Analyst

Location: Miami · FL

Company Overview
At the Miami Marlins, we make waves — on and off the field.

We’re built for sustainable success thanks to our commitment to be great teammates, bold innovators, and thinking long-term. These three pillars guide us in championing a winning culture across the organization. The work we do doesn’t just impact our team — it reaches fans and communities across South Florida.

Position Summary
As a Baseball Analyst in either Baseball Solutions or Baseball Research, you will be responsible for supporting the department in developing sophisticated statistical models, advancing our ability to forecast player performance, and translating insights into actionable recommendations for the Miami Marlins front office. These roles involve prioritizing and executing research requests, creating innovative models, and collaborating with other departments across baseball operations. Strong statistical modeling skills, technical expertise, ability to communicate to technical and non-technical audiences, and a passion for baseball are essential for success in these positions. Note that these are two separate positions, and applicants will automatically be considered for both positions.

Essential Functions

  •  Construct advanced statistical models to support decision-making within Baseball Operations.
  •  Convert key baseball (and physical) concepts into metrics, features, and insights for consumption by the Baseball. 
  • Solutions and Baseball Research departments, as well as those outside of R&D.
  • Develop and maintain production pipelines for daily implementation of statistical models.
  • Collaborate with other analysts, engineers, and stakeholders to identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Manage and clean large datasets from various sources.
  • Provide actionable insights through detailed statistical analysis.
  • Assist with recruiting and evaluating applicants to join the Baseball Research team.
  • Create and maintain documentation outlining departmental best practices.

Our Values
We Are Great Teammates

  • Supports and encourages colleagues.
  • Provides and receives feedback without judgement or ego.
  • Holds one another to a high standard.
  • Provides help and encouragement proactively.
  • Assumes positive intentions from others. 
  • Looks for ways to help make their teammates better.

We Are Innovators

  • Embraces a growth mindset.
  • Challenges conventional wisdom.
  • Unafraid to fail.
  • Pushes boundaries and doesn’t accept impossible.
  • Asks why and asks why not.

We Think Long-Term

  • Asks: what can I do today that will pay off a year from now. 
  • Eschews instant gratification for bigger benefits in the future.
  • Always trying to think three steps ahead.

Skill Requirements

  • Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL.
  • Experience in advanced modeling approaches preferred (Bayesian methods, neural networks, time-series forecasting)
  • Experience with probabilistic programming languages preferred (Stan, PyMC)
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
  • Collaborative mindset and willingness to work in a team environment.
  • Willingness to relocate to Miami and commute to loanDepot Park.
  • Familiarity with public baseball research.
  • Experience with Git and cloud-based computing preferred.

Education & Experience Guidelines

  • Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related quantitative field. Graduate degree is preferred, or equivalent real-world experience
  • 0-2 years of experience in a data analysis role
  • Note that education may be considered in lieu of experience and vice-versa.
  • Experience in a baseball or sports-related environment is preferred.

Work Environment

  • Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as needed.
  • Occasional travel may be required.
  • Standard office working conditions with extended periods of sitting and working on a computer.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.

Job Questions:

  1. Provide a link to your favorite piece of baseball research. It can be a blog post, Twitter thread, peer-reviewed article, or anything else. Include a brief summary of your key takeaways, along with any improvements you would suggest or further research you would like to complete. Please limit your response to 200 words or less.

To Apply:
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Miami Marlins.


The Name’s Bonding, Team Bonding: National League

Joshua L. Jones-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Every year, most teams hold some sort of team bonding, social event during spring training. The specifics of the event vary from team to team, but frequently they include renting out a movie theater and showing some cloying, inspirational movie like The Blind Side, Cool Runnings, Rudy, or better yet, a documentary like Free Solo. Regardless of the team’s outlook on the year, the goal is to get the players amped up for the season and ready to compete on the field, even if the competition in question is for fourth place in the division.

But what if instead of taking the clichéd route, teams actually tried to select a movie that fits their current vibe, one that’s thematically on brand with the state of their franchise? They won’t do this because spring training is a time for hope merchants to peddle their wares, even if they’re selling snake oil to sub-.500 teams. But spring training is over now, the regular season has begun, and it’s time to get real. So here are my movie selections for each National League team, sorted by release date from oldest to newest.

If you’re interested in which movies I selected for the American League teams, you can find those picks here. Read the rest of this entry »


Effectively Wild Episode 2292: Season Preview Series: Braves and Marlins

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a fresh wave of “breakout candidate” crimes, Jerry Dipoto’s latest Meg-maddening comments, the rise of the “kick change,” how ball/strike calls differ from other boundary calls, Barry Bonds’s comments about Shohei Ohtani, and more. Then they preview the 2025 Atlanta Braves (50:56) with 92.9 The Game’s Grant McAuley, and the 2025 Miami Marlins (1:35:27) with Fish on First’s Kevin Barral.

Audio intro: Xavier LeBlanc, “Effectively Wild Theme
Audio interstitial 1: The Shirey Brothers, “Effectively Wild Theme
Audio interstitial 2: Andy Ellison, “Effectively Wild Theme
Audio outro: Tom Rhoads, “Effectively Wild Theme

Link to Passan article
Link to breakout screenshot 1
Link to breakout screenshot 2
Link to breakout screenshot 3
Link to Dipoto article
Link to kick change info 1
Link to kick change info 2
Link to kick change info 3
Link to kick change info 4
Link to kick change info 5
Link to “new hotness” tweet
Link to Naquin article
Link to Ishbia article
Link to MASN update
Link to Jay on Iglesias
Link to Hang Up and Listen
Link to James quote
Link to latest Bonds comments
Link to earlier Bonds comments
Link to Bonds armor
Link to Sam on retaliation
Link to Rob on retaliation
Link to offseason spending
Link to FG payrolls page
Link to Braves depth chart
Link to Braves offseason tracker
Link to Baumann on Braves SP
Link to team SP projections
Link to team RP projections
Link to Grant’s author archive
Link to Grant’s podcast
Link to Marlins depth chart
Link to Marlins offseason tracker
Link to Sherman article
Link to Sheehan on breakouts
Link to 2024 attendance
Link to grievance article
Link to Kevin’s author archive
Link to Kevin’s podcast
Link to EW gift subscriptions

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Fixing a Hole While Teams Train This Spring To Stop the East Clubs From Wondering What They Should Do

Vincent Carchietta and Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

If the winter is a time for dreams, the spring is a time for solutions. Your team may have been going after Juan Soto or Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani, depending on the offseason, but short of something going weird in free agency (like the unsigned Boras clients last year), if you don’t have them under contract at this point, they’ll be improving someone else’s club. However, that doesn’t mean that spring training is only about ramping up for the daily grind. Teams have real needs to address, and while they’re no doubt workshopping their own solutions – or possibly convincing themselves that the problem doesn’t exist, like when I wonder why my acid reflux is awful after some spicy food – that doesn’t mean that we can’t cook up some ideas in the FanGraphs test kitchen.

This is the first piece in a three-part series in which I’ll propose one way for each team to fill a roster hole or improve for future seasons. Some of my solutions are more likely to happen than others, but I tried to say away from the completely implausible ones. We’ll leave the hypothetical trades for Bobby Witt Jr. and Paul Skenes to WFAN callers. Also, I will not recommend the same fix for different teams; in real life, for example, David Robertson can help only one club’s bullpen. Today, we’ll cover the 10 teams in the East divisions, beginning with the five in the AL East before moving on to their counterparts in the NL East. Each division is sorted by the current Depth Charts projected win totals. Read the rest of this entry »


Stealing Bases Is Still Hard!

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

They’ve changed the rules to make it easier to steal bases. That’s not my conjecture. That’s just the truth. By limiting the number of pickoffs and setting a timer that baserunners can use to establish a rhythm, the game has changed completely. Obviously, it has. You knew this. There were 158 baserunners who tried to steal 10 or more times last season, up from 115 in the final year before the rule changes. Most of them were incredibly successful, too: Those 158 stole at an aggregate 80.4% clip.

That’s not all that interesting, to be honest. You knew it already. But what you might not know? Three baserunners apparently didn’t get the memo. Ryan McMahon, Nicky Lopez, and Vidal Bruján all attempted double digit steals and got thrown out more than half the time. I had to know more, so I tried to see what had gone wrong for these three would-be thieves. Read the rest of this entry »


Can You Extrapolate a Part-Time Player?

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The other day, I was poking around on the Minnesota Twins’ RosterResource page. Mostly because the Twins have been quiet this offseason, I wanted to make sure they were still there and that I hadn’t missed another round of contraction rumors.

It’s fine, guys, I checked and the Twins are not going out of business anytime soon.

The other thing I noticed is that Minnesota had only two hitters who qualified for the batting title last season, which is not a lot. The Rangers and Brewers (which I would not have guessed) had seven each. And with Carlos Santana bound for his fifth go-around with Cleveland (it’s only his third but I know you were about to look), Willi Castro stands alone in Minnesota. The Marlins and Rays are the only other teams that are set to return only a single qualified hitter from 2024. Read the rest of this entry »


JAWS and the 2025 Hall of Fame Ballot: Fernando Rodney

Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports

The following article is part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2025 Hall of Fame ballot. For a detailed introduction to this year’s ballot, and other candidates in the series, use the tool above; an introduction to JAWS can be found here. For a tentative schedule, see here. All WAR figures refer to the Baseball Reference version unless otherwise indicated.

2025 BBWAA Candidate: Fernando Rodney
Pitcher WAR WPA WPA/LI R-JAWS IP SV ERA ERA+
Fernando Rodney 7.4 4.4 2.6 4.8 933 327 3.80 110
SOURCE: Baseball-Reference

Fernando Rodney is a man of many hats, most of them slightly askew. Over the course of a 17-year major league career, the Dominican-born reliever showed off his signature style while pitching for 11 different teams, and that’s not even counting his minor league, independent, winter league, or international stops. During his time, he notched 327 saves (19th all-time), made three All-Star teams, and pitched in two World Series, earning a ring with the 2019 Washington Nationals. In the process, he gave the hearts of his managers plenty of workouts as his command came and went, forcing him to work his way out of jams. But when it all came together for Rodney — as it did in 2012, when he posted a microscopic 0.60 ERA while saving 48 games for the Rays — he was a sight to behold.

Rodney’s crooked hat was just one of his famous quirks. He also shot an imaginary arrow into the sky after closing games, most famously upon recording the final out for the Dominican Republic in the 2013 World Baseball Classic championship game.

Read the rest of this entry »


You’re Not Going To Believe What Xavier Edwards Is Slapping Now

Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

The 2023 Miami Marlins were pretty good. They couldn’t hit much, but they had a huge surplus of pitching. Enough not only to survive an injury to 2022 Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, but to trade from that surplus and acquire batting champion Luis Arraez. They won 84 games and made the playoffs. Once there, they got completely smoked in the Wild Card round, but things seemed to be going in the right direction.

They weren’t. More injuries piled up in 2024. Other pitchers regressed. Many, if not most, of the key players from 2023 — Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jake Burger, Josh Bell, Jesús Luzardo, Jorge Soler, Tanner Scott, A.J. Puk, even Arraez himself — either were traded or left as free agents. So too did manager Skip Schumaker, who earned plaudits for his handling of a flawed but decent roster in 2023, but lost 100 games a year later with the shattered remnants of that playoff team. He’s probably better off.

If you want reasons for optimism, you’re going to have to look hard. But if you want to find the successor to Arraez, you can stop at the top of Miami’s lineup. Read the rest of this entry »