24-year old righty reliever Jose Ceda has been dominating in AAA-ball this year. Ceda has pitched in 28 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 2-1 with 19 saves, a 0.89 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He has only given up 22 hits while whiffing 40 batters in 30 1/3 innings in the minors so far this year. Ceda pitched in 1 game out of the pen earlier for the Marlins this year and he is 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. Ceda has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) in parts of two years with the Marlins and he is 0-0 with a 5.79 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP. I think Ceda will get another chance with the Marlins this year, especially if they start dealing relief pitchers in July.

27-year old righty swinging 1B Gaby Sanchez had a solid rookie year in 2010 and he is having an even better year in 2011, so far. Sanchez has played in 78 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 89 for 296 (.301 avg, .869 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 13 homers, 45 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He is tied for first on the team in runs scored with 39. He is also #2 in homers (13) and he leads the team in RBIs (45) so far this year. Sanchez has slowed down a bit in June though. Sanchez has played in 25 games so far in June and he is 24 for 94 (.255 avg, .757 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 4 homers, 10 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Marlins need Sanchez to get back into gear because the Marlins have had trouble scoring runs this year.

Switch-hitting CF Chuck Carr burst onto the scene in the Marlins’ first year of existence. He finished 4th in the Rookie of the Year Voting in the N.L. in 1993, when the Marlins were born. Carr played in 142 games for the Marlins in 1993 and he was 147 for 551 (.267 avg, .657 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 4 homers, 41 RBIs and 58 stolen bases. He was also caught stealing 22 times, so he was far from perfect. Carr only played 3 years with the Marlins appearing in 353 games in which he was 331 of 1,292 (.256 avg, .646 OPS) with 190 runs scored, 8 homers, 91 RBIs and 115 stolen bases. Despite only playing three years with the Marlins, Carr is still #4 in team history in stolen bases with 115.

27-year old righty starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez has started 4 games so far in June and he is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He has whiffed 27 batters while only walking 5 of them in 25 2/3 innings this month. Sanchez has now started 15 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 6-1 with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Sanchez has only given up 84 hits in 99 1/3 innings for the Marlins so far this year and he has 101 whiffs. Sanchez is finally healthy and he is turning into the pitcher the Marlins thought he would be when they acquired him along with SS Hanley Ramirez from the Red Sox for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell.

The Florida Marlins have hired 80-year old Jack McKeon to be the Marlins’ interim manager the rest of this year. He will try to reinvent the magic of the 2003 Marlins. He was hired around Memorial Day in 2003 and he led the Marlins to a 75-49 (60.5%) record the rest of the year. McKeon then took the Marlins on a magical ride that ended in the old Yankees’ Stadium with a World Series Championship. McKeon has a 241-207 record (53.8%) in his three years in charge for the Marlins. McKeon has a 1,011-940 (51.8%) record during his 15-years as a major league manager. It will be interesting to see how McKeon’s old school, no-nonsense style fits with the young Marlins. This was a hire to win now as the Marlins aren’t giving up on the season.