21-year old righty swinging RF Mike Stanton got off to a slow start in April. But, he’s fully healthy now and the results have been eye popping in May. Stanton has played in 26 games so far in May and he is 27 for 98 (.276 avg, .950 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 9 homers and 19 RBIs. Stanton has now played in 47 games for the Marlins overall this year and he is 43 for 163 (.264 avg, .894 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 11 homers and 28 RBIs. Stanton has by far the most power on the Marlins, and I wouldn’t be suprised if he leads the league in homers this year as long as he doesn’t get hurt again.

Righty reliever Antonio Alfonseca is more known for having six fingers on each hand than his pitching performance. That being said, he’s still hanging in there in the Marlins’ record books. He pitched in 68 games (0 starts) for the Marlins in 2000 and he was 5-6 with 45 saves, a 4.24 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Alfonseca’s 45 saves led the majors in 2000, despite the fact that he gave up 82 hits in only 70 innings pitched! Alfonseca pitched in 307 games (0 starts) in his six years with the Marlins and he was 19-25 with 102 saves, a 3.86 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Alfonseca is #2 in both saves (102) and games pitched (307) in Marlins’ history and that’s amazing to me, because I don’t think he was that good.

The Marlins have designated 27-year old righty starter/reliever Jay Buente for assignment. Buente pitched in one game for the Marlins this year and he didn’t do too well. Buente got a no-decision by working 3 innings against the Rays in which he gave up 5 hits, 4 runs (3 earned) and he walked 3 batters while only striking one out. Buente has pitched in 9 games (1 start) in parts of two years with the Fish and he is 0-1 with a 7.07 ERA and a 2.50 WHIP. The Marlins have called up rookie righty reliever Steve Cishek to replace Buente on the pitching staff. Cishek came into this season as the Marlins’ #19 prospect according to Baseball America. He has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Cishek pitched in 3 games (0 starts) last year in his first taste of the majors and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.46 WHIP.

The Florida Marlins have placed 27-year old righty starting pitcher Josh Johnson on the 15-day disabled list due to a case of right shoulder inflammation. Johnson has pitched in 9 games (all starts) for the Marlins so far this year and he is 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA (leads major league baseball) and a 0.98 WHIP. He has only given up 39 hits in his first 60 1/3 innings so far this year, as he has been awesome. The Marlins have called up 27-year old righty Jay Buente to replace Johnson in the starting rotation. Buente has pitched in 10 games (5 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 3-0 with a 1.94 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP. Buente has only given up 23 hits in 41 2/3 innings in the minors so far this year with 44 whiffs. The Marlins hope that Buente is a lot better for them than he was last year. Buente pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Marlins in his first taste of the majors last year and he was 0-0 with a 6.55 ERA and a 2.46 WHIP.

34-year old righty starting pitcher Javier Vazquez is a favorite of Marlins’ owner Jeff Loria as they were together in Montreal when he owned the Expos. That might not be able to save Vazquez’ job unless he starts to right the ship soon. Vazquez has pitched in 8 games (all starts) for the Marlins so far this year and he is 2-4 with a 7.55 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP. He has given up 51 hits while walking 24 batters in his first 39 1/3 innings which is pretty awful. The big problem I see with Vazquez is his lack of velocity which has resulted in him having only 20 whiffs so far this year. The Marlins can’t keep running Vazquez out to the mound to start games if he’s going to keep pitching like he is right now, period!