Marlins are through first quarter of season. Five stats that stand out about their start

After their 3-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, the Miami Marlins are officially past the one-quarter mark of the season.

They are 20-21 after 41 games and, for all intents and purposes, still find themselves in the middle of the pack in the National League. The Marlins entered Monday tied for third place in the NL East with the New York Mets, a half-game behind the 20-20 Philadelphia Phillies for both second place in the division and the third NL wild card spot.

What should be made of the Marlins’ start to the season? Here are five telling stats from the first 41 games.

▪ 4.74 starting pitching ERA: Starting pitching was supposed to be the Marlins’ backbone this year, just as it has been for each of the past few seasons. Instead, the group is sitting just below league average. The collective 4.74 ERA for Marlins starters is 17th in the MLB while their 203 overall innings pitched by starters is the sixth-fewest in the league. They are down two starters from their Opening Day group in Johnny Cueto (right biceps) and Trevor Rogers (left biceps) and the rest of the group overall has underwhelmed, including ace and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara (4.91 ERA in 51 1/3 innings).

▪ 12-1 in one-run games: The Marlins set an MLB record by winning each of their first 12 games this season that were decided by one run, breaking the 1972 Mets’ mark of 11 consecutive wins in such fashion to begin a season.

Last year, Miami went 24-40 in one-run games.

What has attributed to the flip, at least in the early going this season?

“I see confidence in guys being able to execute more than I did last year in critical situations,” Marlins general manager Kim Ng said. “I think that’s contagious. I think it’s [the new guys we brought in], I think it’s growth. I also think that the bullpen has done a really good job. I think all those things combined, [manager] Skip [Schumaker] making some good moves with the bullpen, I think all of that combined leads to that type of record.”

▪ 7-6 in series wins: The Marlins have won more series than they have lost so far this season, and four of their six series defeats have come to the Mets and Braves. They have one series sweep (the Chicago Cubs at home) and have been swept once (by the Braves at home). Their seven series wins: The Minnesota Twins at home, Phillies on the road, Arizona Diamondbacks (twice, once each at home and on the road), San Francisco Giants at home, Cleveland Guardians on the road and Cubs at home. The two series loss not to the Braves or Mets: The Cubs on the road and the Reds at home.

▪ 3.44 runs per game: While the Marlins on paper improved their lineup with the additions of Luis Arraez, Jean Segura and Yuli Gurriel in addition to better production from a healthy Jorge Soler, the team is still scoring the second-fewest runs in baseball. They have just 12 games in which they have scored at least five runs and 13 games in which they have scored two runs or fewer.

That coupled with seven blowout losses play a factor in the Marlins’ negative-56 run differential, which is the worst in the National League despite Miami being just one game under .500.

▪ .382 batting average: It’s not as great of a number as it was, say, a week and a half ago when he was at .437, but Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez still leads MLB with a .382 batting average, 36 points ahead of the next closest hitter (the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. is hitting .346). Arraez has recorded at least one hit in 30 of his 35 starts this year.