Fish Serving Up a Bit of Everything

The Florida Marlins in their early season surge have given their fans a variety of ways to taste the joy of victory. We've been handed a plate of blow out a la mode, a small dose of dominant pitching victories, a dash of late game comeback wins and a complete recipe for the best record in the Major Leagues. The best part of it all is that it looks like there is room for more as this only seems to be the first entree of a full course meal.

Now, enough with all the food metaphors (hungry yet?) and let's focus on the success that the Florida Marlins have had entering the 2009 season. One thing that the team has definitely shown is that they are not a one-trick show. It's not like last season, where home runs where the only means of scoring and offense was our best defense. Those days are gone and a new outlook on baseball has settled in. 

The Marlins have done all the small things (i.e. steals, singles, doubles) and coupled them with the big things (i.e. home runs) and created a formidable offense that is as good as any team in the league. The pitching has improved in both the staring and bullpen lineups - our starters are healthy and our relievers are executing. The best part of it all: the success is a product of a team effort and not an individual's performance.   

One game you have Dan Uggla coming through with multi-run homers, another game you have Cody Ross delivering a  game-winning double. Not to mention, Hanley Ramirez has not even showed to play, relatively speaking when you account for his potential. Whether our batters score 5 runs in the first inning or in the ninth inning, the offense is there and have come through for a majority of the season's start. There is no one hero to this story because every game has its own hero. That's what you call multi-dimensional.  

Break this all into production and efficiency and this is what you get:

Production: 15 HRs and 74 RBIs in 12 games. 

Efficiency: The entire pitching staff has a 3.24 ERA, while relievers have a 2.34 ERA

When one player gets into a slump (i.e. Emilio Bonifacio) another player steps up (i.e. Cody Ross). This is the kind of chemistry and balance that equates into victories. The Marlins are cookin' and its only a matter of time before the entire league begins to smell the roast.