32-year old righty reliever Brian Sanches is once again throwing well for the Marlins. He has pitched in 48 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this year and he is 0-2 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. In his two years with the Marlins, Sanches has pitched in 95 games (0 starts) and he is 4-4 with a 2.71 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Sanches is just another one of Larry Beinfest’s patented signings from the junk heap that turns to gold.

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.

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.

26-year old righty swinging shortstop Hanley Ramirez and 26-year old righty starting pitcher Josh Johnson are heading to the All-Star Game. Ramirez was elected by the fans so he will be the starter at SS for the N.L. Ramirez has played in 79 games for the Marlins so far this season and he is 89 of 299 (.298 avg, .880 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 13 homers, 52 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Josh Johnson has been outstanding this season for the Marlins. He has started 17 games for the Marlins this season and he is 8-3 with a 1.82 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. Johnson has been ultra aggressive in the strike zone as he has whiffed 115 batters while only walking 27 in 114 innings this year. He has great stuff as he throws a lot of strikes while also missing a lot of bats as evidenced by the 83 hits he has given up. The Marlins only have two players signed past the 2012 season when they move into their new ballpark and these are the guys.

26-year old starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez is pitching solid baseball for the Marlins this year. Sanchez has pitched in 15 games (all starts) for the Marlins this year and he is 7-4 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Sanchez’ control is the only thing keeping him from being a elite pitcher this year as he has walked 35 batters in 93 1/3 innings for the Marlins. That is nitpicking as the Marlins have to be very happy with Sanchez this year. Sanchez was part of the return the Marlins got from the Red Sox in the Josh Beckett/Mike Lowell trade. He has now pitched in 65 games (64 starts) in his five years with the Marlins and he is 25-21 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Sanchez has career highs of 18 starts and 10 wins in a season and he looks on pace to smash both of those marks.