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The Miami Marlins came out and surprised many people at the start of the season. They got off to a hot start and stayed competitive through May.
They've gotten solid pitching performances from their starting staff and the bullpen, while the team has done just enough offensively to stay in the thick of things.
The Marlins have been able to stay in the thick of things in the division, but an interesting home/road split is killing their overall record. While they are 18-15 at home, they hold an 8-16 record on the road.
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Marlins' offseason trade acquisition has a huge strikeout problem
Looking past the home/road splits, the offense could certainly be better. Some sluggers are struggling a bit, like Kyle Stowers and Owen Caissie.
Caissie was the offseason trade acquisition for Miami. He was acquired in exchange for Edward Cabrera, and while fans were initially excited, they've had to hold their breath.
He isn't doing as well as the fanbase had hoped, and his poor offensive numbers make him the club's least valuable player, per Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer.
"It's between Caissie and Kyle Stowers, and the latter has at least one thing going for him. He may be like Caissie in that he has an OPS in the .650s, but only Caissie has fanned 61 times in 147 plate appearances. That's a strikeout rate that begins with a four."
For those who hate math, that's a 41.5% strikeout rate, which is quite high. For perspective, Luis Arraez, who holds the lowest strikeout rate, sits with a .039%.
His elite bat speed and being so young aren't helping him. He's not chasing pitches out of the strike zone much, but isn't timing up the pitches inside the strike zone as much as he would like to.
He needs to go back to the drawing board, rethink his approach at the plate, and put more balls in play.
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