The Miami Marlins were competing in one of the toughest divisions this season, but they found a way to make it to the postseason and two of our MLBbro’s played a key role in making that happen.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Josh Bell will be making their second postseason appearance and they both will look to help the Marlins make a deep postseason run.
It came down to the end of the season for the Marlins to find out that they would be appearing in the postseason, and it wasn’t an easy task.
On Saturday, the Marlins clinched a playoff berth for the fourth time in franchise history after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3.
Jazz Chisholm Blossoming Since Getting Healthy
Both MLBbro’s contributed to the team’s win. Chisholm hit his 19th home run of the season and Bell had a two-run double.
Chisholm’s 19 home runs is a new career-high for the 25-year-old. The centerfielder loves playing in Miami and he believes the team has a close bond on the field.
“I feel like we’re just the biggest family in the league,” Chisholm said in an article from Times Union after the victory on Saturday. “I feel like nobody is as connected as us as a team. I feel like when someone gets going, everybody gets going. That’s the plan here and we’re just family and we’re coming in together.”
Having that team chemistry is very important and is a vital component for teams having success and winning titles. The Marlins went into that game against Pittsburgh with one thing on their mind.
“Before the game we called it ‘Clinch Day’ and we weren’t expecting any other day to be Clinch Day except today,” Chisholm said. “And that’s what we did, and we handled it today.”
Chisholm has developed into a leader on this Marlins team and he’s a player who provides a lot of energy on and off the field. And this brother is young too, so he has some years to continue to develop and be a dominant player in the league for years to come.
Through 97 games, Chisholm is hitting .252 with 52 RBI and 22 stolen bases to go along with his 19 home runs.
Josh Bell joined the Marlins this season and has delivered at the plate time after time, a big reason why the Marlins sought out to get him.
And now he’ll get a chance to do that in the postseason.
When the Marlins clinched a playoff berth on Saturday, Bell got to experience that in a familiar place. From 2016 to 2020, Bell played in Pittsburgh and became a fan favorite there.
“Thought I’d celebrate here years and years ago,” Bell said Saturday. “But just to be able to celebrate here now is icing on the cake.”
Bell brings that veteran leadership to the team and at any point during the game, he can change things with just one swing of the bat.
Last season, Bell appeared in the postseason with the San Diego Padres and put together a solid stat line, hitting .250 with two home runs and five RBI through 10 games.
Chisholm has only appeared in one game in the postseason, which came in 2020. He went 1-for-3 that game with a double.
We’ll get a chance to see both players look to contribute in big ways once the Wild Card begins.
The Marlins are one team you want to keep an eye on during the postseason.
This year’s National League Wild Card race has seen quite a few twists, and this latest turn of events puts several MLBbros in each other’s crosshairs for the final few weeks of the season.
The Chicago Cubs have lost control of the second WC spot that they once held by a three-game lead over Tommy Pham and the Arizona Diamondbacks. After going 2-8 in their last 10 ball games, Marcus Stroman and the Cubs now find themselves staring down Jazz Chisholm Jr and the streaking Miami Marlins for the final spot.
Hunter Greene and the Cincinnati Reds have managed to wiggle their way back into the picture as well and sit just a half game back of the Cubs and Marlins headed into Monday’s slate of games.
Let’s take a look at how we got to this point.
Stroman Looks to Stop Bleeding
Marcus Stroman was a key piece in the Cubs rotation, going 10-8 with a 3.85 ERA in 23 starts this season for the North Siders before he went down with inflammation in his right hip along with a rib cartilage fracture.
Stroman garnered early Cy Young consideration, but the injuries would cause his performance to drop off before he went to the IL. Now, with his team looking for something to spark one final push for the stretch run, Stroman is ready to do whatever it takes to help his team win.
And yes, that includes going to the Pen.
“Marcus has a proven track record, and getting him back was an important step,” said Cubs manager David Ross. “He’s on a journey to try and build back up, but right now, he’ll help us out in the bullpen. Then we’ll read and react and see how everything goes these last couple weeks.”
His first outing out of the bullpen was a solid one, going two scoreless in a tough loss against Tommy Pham and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Jazz Heats Up Little Havana
Meanwhile down in Miami, Chisholm and the Marlins have been playing inspired baseball of late. MIami has won six of their last 10 games, including a sweep of Michael Harris II and the Atlanta Braves over the weekend.
Miami took advantage of Ronald Acuna Jr being out with calf tightness the final two games, and Jazz made sure of it. Chisholm became the first player in the clubs 32-year history to hit a grand slam in consecutive games, hitting one in the 8th inning of game two and then again in the third inning of game three.
“Our team is here to fight,” Chisholm said. “I don’t care about the team we go up against because I know my team is going to go out there and battle every single pitch. I felt every pitch today, and everybody was ready.”
Over his last 15 games has hit .286 with four homers, 12 RBI and a .915 OPS. They have a three-game set with Minnesota that on paper stands to be their toughest test the rest of the season, although the inconsistent Mets will have an opportunity to play spoiler to their division rival.
Greene and the Reds Lurking
The media frenzy around rookie Elly De La Cruz may have quieted, but this young ball club is still looking to make waves come postseason. Now Cincy may be 5-5 in their last 10 ball games, but of all the teams vying for the final WC spot they have the easiest remaining schedule.
Can Hunter Greene and Cincy finally give those fans a glimpse of a bright future after years of futility? The next two weeks will tell us everything we need to know.
The Miami Marlins are fighting hard to solidify a Wild Card spot in this year’s postseason. The franchise has only been to the playoffs three times, with two of those times resulting in World Series championships, so fans are excited about the potential of the team’s first return to the postseason since the Covid-shortened season.
After a four-game sweep of division foes the Washington Nationals, the team also won its last series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team is currently on a roll and is being led by two incredible MLBbros that are performing at a high level in Josh Bell and Jazz Chisholm Jr. However, it is the energy and rising consistency young MLBbro, Xavier Edwards who could be the key to securing a playoff berth.
The Marlins center fielder did not make the All-Star game this year as he did last year, but this season is turning out to be more prolific. Early in September, the MLBbro is batting over .400 and is seeing the ball well. This is a perfect time to find his groove as the Marlins are fighting on a daily basis for a Wild Card spot. As a clubhouse leader, the team will rally behind the MLBbro as long as he can keep leading the ship.
MLBbro Josh Bell has become one of best trade deadline additions in all of baseball.
Since being traded from the Guardians, Bell’s performed like the hitter that he was last year when he became a highly-sought after free agent this past offseason.
Bell has hit .273 in Miami, with nine home runs in 31 games. He only totaled 11 home runs in 97 games in Cleveland earlier this season. Whether at DH or first base, the Marlins can rely on the MLBbro to be a constant threat of power and contact in the heart of their lineup. Bell helped the Padres get into the playoffs last season after the trade deadline, so he can bring similar aid to the Marlins this season.
Batting over .350, he is showing great flashes of contact at this early stage in his career. September is the time of year when many new faces are called up to The Show, some just for a feeling out process and some to make a difference. The Marlins are giving this MLBbro the perfect opportunity to do both, and if his early success is sustained, he will find himself playing a very large role in a pivotal season for the organization.
LOS ANGELES – The Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm has been in a funk this season. Jazz is not having the season that he was hoping for.
To go with his .244/.297/.431 slashline, with both his batting average and on-base percentage being the lowest since his rookie season, he’s dealt with various injuries that have kept him off the field, including a turf toe that kept him out for about six weeks, an oblique strain that kept him out for almost a month, and most recently missed a few games due to a sore right hamstring.
Chisholm broke out in 2022, earning his first career All-Star appearance, being named the starting second baseman for the National League side, and had a career high .860 OPS. However, he was limited to only 60 games in 2022 due to a back injury.
Many believed that injury set his career back a couple of years because he was blossoming into one of baseball’s electrifying stars. Now it seems that he’s still struggling to regain that consistent five-tool magic that had the 25-year-old Bahamian on a trajectory to superstardom.
Injuries, Position Changes, Instability
The Marlins traded for American League batting champion Luis Arraez (Minnesota Twins) during the 2022-2023 offseason, a fellow second baseman. The plan was to put Arraez at second, and with Chisholm’s electric speed, make him the captain of the outfield and have him play centerfield. The hope was that the injury-riddled season that affected him last year would be a thing of the past and moving to the outfield would help prevent further injuries. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for 2023.
Even with all those injuries to his lower extremities, Jazz still has had a decent season running the bases, having stolen 17 bases on 20 attempts. Also, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker wasn’t wrong about Chisholm having Gold Glove potential in centerfield. Jazz has only committed two errors and has four outfield assists. Not bad for a guy who just started playing the position professionally about five months ago.
Marlins Not Getting Enough From Jazz To Stay In Playoff Hunt?
After sitting pretty comfortably in second place in their division, and consistently in the first or second Wild Card spots for much of the season, the Marlins are now on the outside looking in, 2.5 games back of the last slot.
Looking ahead, between now and September 17, Miami has a murderer’s row of series against strong playoff hopefuls like the Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves.
At the beginning of the season, not many people were expecting Miami to get off to such a blazing start. Them being 66-65, just a game above .500, is what seemed more realistic.
The bummer is that if Chisholm didn’t miss as many as the 50+ games he’s missed, Miami would definitely have more wins and a bit more breathing room in the standings since his leadership, electrifying play and clubhouse energy has been absent for almost half the year.
While they may be down, the season is certainly not over for Chisholm and the Marlins. If they can play the way they once were, in addition to Jazz being in the lineup more consistently, then they can still make it to the postseason for the first time since 2003, excluding the 2020 COVID year.
They do need Jazz to step it up and become the impactful force he’s capable of being.
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