The Florida Marlins finished the first half on a 5-game winning streak as they are starting to respond to “new” manager Jack McKeon. The Marlins are 11-8 (57.9%) under McKeon. The Marlins finished the first half of the season in last place in the N.L. East with a 43-48 record which has them 14 games behind the Phillies. The Marlins are also 10.5 games behind the Braves in the Wild Card race. Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impact in the first half of the season for the Marlins:

Team MVP: No one in baseball has more raw power than 21-year old righty swinging RF Mike Stanton. He’s streaky but when he’s on, he hits everything hard. Stanton has played in 85 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 77 for 302 (.255 avg, .842 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 18 homers, 51 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Stanton has whiffed 96 times so far this year so he has a lot of holes in his swing, but he has carried the team quite a bit this year offensively.

Biggest Surprise: 32-year old lefty swinging 3B Greg Dobbs was just supposed to be a pinch hitter for the Marlins this year but they have needed him more than that and he has responded well. Dobbs has played in 75 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 63 for 215 (.293 avg, .718 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 2 homers and 21 RBIs. In his first seven years in the majors prior to this year, Dobbs had never batted more than 324 times in a season.

Biggest Disappointment: 27-year old righty swinging shorstop Hanley Ramirez has been the best hitter on the Marlins every year he has been on the team until 2011. Ramirez has played in 73 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 64 for 265 (.242 avg, .706 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 8 homers, 37 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. The Marlins are hoping for Ramirez to have a big second half as he has a lot better since Jack McKeon has taken over as the manager.

The Florida Marlins are 1-2 after the woeful Mets came to Miami over the weekend and pushed them around. The Marlins looked like the Bad News Bears in the field and some of the pitching was awful. They were outscored 17-12 by the Mets. The Marlins are too good to keep playing like they did over the weekend, so I think they will start to get their act together this week.

The Florida Marlins are 42-46 which has them in 4th place in the N.L. East, 10 games behind the Braves. The Marlins might go into a selling mode in the second half of the season. This year though they have had a lot of surprises and disappointments and here’s a look at them:

Pleasant Surprises: 26-year old righty swinging 1B Gaby Sanchez has burst onto the scene this year and he is playing well. Sanchez has played in 84 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 95 of 315 (.302 avg, .832 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 9 homers, 38 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. 26-year old righty starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez is finally healthy right now and he’s pitching well. Sanchez has started 17 games for the Marlins this year and he is 7-6 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. 26-year old righty closer Leo Nunez had a very solid first half of 2010 for the Marlins. Nunez has pitched in 38 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this year and he is 3-2 with 20 saves, a 2.95 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. 30-year old righty reliever Clay Hensley has pitched in 32 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this year and he is 1-3 with a 2.39 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP.

Disappointments: 23-year old righty swinging Cameron Maybin was supposed to be the starting CF this season but he’s already in AAA. Maybin played in 51 games for the Marlins this season and he was 41 of 182 (.225 avg, .631 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 5 homers, 19 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. 27-year old righty reliever Burke Badenhop was part of the return for Miguel Cabrera (along with Maybin) and he has also been pathetic this year. Badenhop has pitched in 18 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this year and he is 1-5 with 1 save, a 5.70 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. 28-year old lefty reliever Dan Meyer had a career year for the Marlins last season but he has been awful this year. Meyer has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this year and he is 0-1 with a 9.64 ERA and a 2.89 WHIP. 23-year old righty starting pitcher Chris Volstad got sent back down to AAA right before the All-Star Break. He has started 17 games for the Marlins this year and he is 4-8 with a 4.78 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP.

The Marlins took two out of three from the Phillies in Philly this past weekend so it’s all smiles right now in Florida. The Marlins are 8-5 on the season which has them in 2nd place in the N.L. East, 1/2 a game behind the Phillies. The Marlins are outscoring their opponents 68-62 on the season so they need to tighten up the pitching staff a tad if they are going to keep winning a lot of ballgames. The Marlins travel to Houston (3 games) and Colorado (3 games) this week.

The Marlins are now 4-2 on the season after taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers over the weekend. They are one game behind the Phillies despite being outscored 32-27 on the season. The Marlins are getting a lot of clutch hitting so far this season and that is the biggest reason they are 4-2. The Reds are coming to town for a four game series and then the Marlins travel to Philly this weekend to tangle with the Phillies. This will be a tough 7 game stretch for the Marlins so I’m sure they would be happy with 4 wins. Anything more than that would be gravy if the Marlins are good enough to do it.