The Marlins are using 32-year old lefty Will Ohman the right way now (against lefties) and he’s responding. Ohman has pitched in 6 games for the Marlins and he is 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.64 WHIP. He has only given up 2 hits in 4 2/3 innings while whiffing 6 batters so he has been very effective. I know that there were some skeptics when the Marlins pulled the trigger on this trade but to me it was made to try to make the playoffs right now. So who cares if you give up a guy like Rick VandenHurk to take a shot at playing games in October.

20-year old righty swinging RF Mike Stanton came into this season as the Marlins’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America and you’re starting to see why that is. Stanton has played in 58 games for the Marlins and he is 57 of 210 (.271 avg, .905 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 14 homers, 39 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has whiffed 73 times this season for the Fish but he also has 25 walks which is impressive for a young hitter like him. Before the Marlins called up Stanton he played in 53 games in AA-ball in which he was 60 of 192 (.313 avg, 1.171 OPS)with 42 runs scored, 21 homers and 52 RBIs. He walked 44 times while whiffing 53 times in the minors this year. Stanton is starting to remind me a big of Miguel Cabrera when he came up in 2003.

29-year old righty reliever Jose Veras was awful early this year for the Marlins. But when they called him back up he has looked like a shiny new pitcher. Since June 25th, Veras has pitched in 18 games out of the pen for the Marlins and he is 1-0 with a 1.02 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. Veras has now pitched in 22 games (0 starts) overall for the Marlins this year and he is 2-0 with a 4.03 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. He has 31 whiffs in only 22 1/3 innings for the Marlins this year showing that he has pretty good stuff when he’s throwing strikes. Veras has also walked 13 batters this year so he does need to tighten up his control a bit. The Marlins are starting to use him later in games showing some faith in him which has been rewarded as of late.

27-year old infielder Donnie Murphy has been relegated to pinch hitting so far for the Marlins and he’s doing a outstanding job. Murphy has played in 14 games for the Marlins this year and he is 5 of 16 (.313 avg, 1.165 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. The only thing probably holding back the Marlins from giving him some starts at 3B over Wes Helms is his career stats coming into this year. Coming into this season Murphy played in 127 games in the majors in which he was 62 of 325 (.191 avg, .607 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 10 homers, 45 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.

The Marlins have signed 30-year old lefty swinging 1B/3B Chad Tracy. Tracy has played in 28 games this season for the Cubs and he was 11 of 44 (.250 avg, .622 OPS) with 6 runs scored and 5 RBIs. He has now played in 732 games in his 7 years in the majors and he is 665 of 2,382 (.279 avg, .788 OPS) with 299 runs scored, 78 homers, 323 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Tracy will immediately improve the Marlins bench. The Marlins have demoted 24-year old lefty swinging outfielder Bryan Petersen to make room on the roster for Tracy. Petersen played in 23 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 2 of 24 (.083 avg, .203 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs.