35-year old righty swinging 3B/1B Wes Helms has been awful for the Marlins so far this year. He has played in 45 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 16 for 74 (.216 avg, .545 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers and 5 RBIs. Helms has played in 557 games in his five years with the Marlins and he is 270 for 1,033 (.261 avg, .720 OPS) with 105 runs scored, 22 homers, 155 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Marlins should think about getting rid of Helms if he doesn’t start hitting because he’s a horrible defensive player.

The Marlins need 25-year old lefty swinging CF Chris Coghlan to start hitting better. He burst onto the scene with the Fish back in 2009 when he was the N.L. Rookie of the Year. He played in 128 games for the Marlins in 2009 and he was 162 for 504 (.321 avg, .850 OPS) with 84 runs scored, 9 homers, 47 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. That season appears to have been a mirage as he struggled last season before hurting himself and ending his 2009 season prematurely. This season has been no better than 2009 for Coghlan. Coghlan has played in 57 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 58 for 240 (.242 avg, .690 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 4 homers, 21 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. If he doesn’t start hitting better soon, the Marlins will have no choice but to drop him in the batting order.

The Marlins have placed 27-year old righty swinging shortstop Hanley Ramirez on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained left back muscle. Ramirez has played in 48 games so far this year for the Marlins and he is 38 for 181 (.210 avg, .615 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 4 homers, 17 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Those are shockingly back numbers for Ramirez. In his first six years in the majors, Ramirez played in 760 games in which he was 934 for 2,982 (.313 avg, .905 OPS) with 562 runs scored, 124 homers, 389 RBIs and 196 stolen bases. The Marlins hope that Ramirez will get back to the player he used to be after a 15 day stay on the D.L. to get healthy.

27-year old righty swinging shortstop has had little problem handling major league pitching before this year. In his first six years in the majors, Ramirez played in 760 games in which he was 934 of 2,982 (.313 avg, .905 OPS) with 562 runs scored, 124 homers, 389 RBIs and 196 stolen bases. But this year, Ramirez is off to a very poor start with the bat for the Florida Marlins. Ramirez has played in 18 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 12 for 66 (.182 avg, .541 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers, 7 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The amazing thing about Ramirez’ struggles is that the Marlins are winning anyway. Think of how many games the Fish are going to win when Ramirez gets back on the right track….because he will.

Donnie Murphy came into this year as the Marlins’ starting 3B, but it was written in pencil. Murphy has played in 9 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 4 for 27 (.148 avg, .419 OPS) with 1 run scored, 0 homers and 3 RBIs. He has only walked 1 time so far this year, so he’s not being very patient. But, he has only whiffed 4 times this year so he is making contact, which hasn’t been a strong suit of his so far in his major league career. He needs to pick things up soon or Emilio Bonifacio, Wes Helms or Greg Dobbs are going to take his job away from him.