Marlins trending in the wrong direction as Memorial Day weekend arrives

MIAMI — Major League Baseball teams generally get an idea of what type of club they have around Memorial Day.

The reason is because the season is a couple of months old, and there is a decent sample size to draw some conclusions.

For the Miami Marlins, they’re entering the holiday weekend trending in the wrong direction. After being swept in a two-game series at the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami fell to a season-worst six-games under .500 (18-24).

Remembering Miami's World Series champs: Marlins' 25th anniversary celebration

What if Yelich had stayed? Christian Yelich back in Miami and what might have been if he stayed with the Marlins

The Palm Beach Post offers these five takeaways as the club aims to get on track:

Spotlight focuses on Jesus Sanchez

Without question, Jesus Sanchez has tremendous upside. The 24-year-old has a good swing, bat-speed, loads of power and potential. He’s also been exposed as opponents have discovered some weaknesses.

They say baseball is a game of adjustments. Well, the league has adjusted to Sanchez. Now, it’s up to him to adjust as well.

One area he needs improvement is chasing pitches outside the zone. He’s chasing 35.2 percent of the time. A year ago, that figure was 31.1 percent. He’s also seeing more breaking pitches, and is batting .191 against them. He’s not mashing fastballs, either, hitting .227 off them.

Defensively, the Marlins knew transitioning him to center field would come with some growing pains. Many are pointing to Sanchez’s whiffing on his dive that led to Kevin Kiermaier’s inside-the-park home run in the first inning in Tuesday’s loss to the Rays.

It’s still the first half of a long season, and sending him down to Triple-A Jacksonville or demoting him to a bench player is tough on the psyche of players. But if his struggles continue, the Marlins will have to decide their next step.

Next few weeks may impact Pablo Lopez

Starting pitching is the unquestionable strength of the organization, and Pablo Lopez statistically is one of the best right-handers in the Majors. His 2.06 ERA ranks among the leaders, and he has a 9.51 strikeouts per nine-innings percentage, to go with a 1.87 walks per nine innings.

Lopez also has a history of shoulder injuries, which has limited his total innings throughout his career. Last year, he logged 102 2/3 innings in 20 starts, and his career-high for starts is 21 and innings, 111 1/3. Both came in 2019. He’s already logged 53 this year.

The right-hander recently lost his arbitration hearing. After filing for $3 million, the arbitration panel decided on the club’s offer of $2.45 million this year. Lopez is eligible for free agency in 2025.

So, if the Marlins fall completely out of the race by the end of July, Lopez would be an attractive trade piece. Obviously, if they stay in the race, he will be a big part of the playoff push.

Welcome back, Joey Wendle

A struggling Marlins’ offense is getting a lift for the weekend series at the Atlanta Braves.

Infielder Joey Wendle (right hamstring strain) has been reinstated from the injured list. To say he has been missed is an understatement.

Miami has gone 4-7 in his absence. What it has lacked is Wendle’s timely hitting, his positional versatility, and the way he’s been used matching up against certain pitchers.

Wendle’s impact has been magnified this past week because second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. (left hamstring tightness) has not been in the lineup.

In his first 25 games, Wendle hit .304 with a .368 on-base percentage, with two home runs.

Dealing with hamstrings is also tricky. The fact Wendle and Chisholm are dealing with them raises some concerns.

The Marlins added some organizational infield insurance by trading for Minor League infielder Luke Williams from the San Francisco Giants for infielder Hayden Cantrelle. Williams has 120 MLB plate appearances.

Rotation depth tested with Jesus Luzardo’s injury

The Marlins have been hoping Jesus Luzardo would be ready to rejoin the rotation in early June. That projection appears to be optimistic.

Luzardo, who last pitched on May 10 at Arizona, is dealing with a left forearm strain, and he has yet to resume throwing. Currently not on the road trip, the Marlins have been able to mostly work around Luzardo’s spot in the rotation due to a few scheduled off days.

Now, they are in a 10 games in 10 days stretch, so they will need a starter twice in that span. Cody Poteet remains a possibility. In the Minor Leagues, prospects Sixto Sanchez, Max Meyer, Braxton Garrett and Jordan Holloway are all injured.

Edward Cabrera, who started for Triple-A Jacksonville on Thursday, would be available as early as Tuesday, when the Marlins are at the Colorado Rockies. Cabrera is built up to 100 pitches.

Something to monitor with the 24-year-old is his fastball velocity. It was mostly 92-94 mph, according to the announcers telecast Thursday. He did touch 97 mph. In 2021, when Cabrera had a short big league stint, his four-seam fastball average was 96.7 mph.

Bullpen gets back Bleier, loses Bender

Anthony Bender has had his ups and downs in high-leverage situations this season. He’s saved six of eight chances, and he has a 4.50 ERA in 16 appearances.

But now, the club will be without his services for a couple of weeks. Bender has been placed on the 15-day injured list with back stiffness.

With Bender now out for a while, the bullpen is gaining the services of veteran lefty Richard Bleier, who was on the injured list with an undisclosed ailment. Bleier last appeared on May 6, and he gives manager Don Mattingly another back-end lefty option to go with Steven Okert.

The Marlins’ bullpen, as much as it’s been criticized, actually has been pretty effective. It picked up five scoreless innings in Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to the Rays. They enter the weekend with the fifth best ERA among all MLB bullpens – 3.10.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Marlins enter Memorial Day weekend trending in wrong direction