A Closer Look at the Marlins Early Success

The Marlins are off to an 11-2 start, a fact you’re likely familiar with assuming ESPN isn’t your only source of baseball information. This is only a 13 game sample, or the equivalent of eight percent of the season, so it’s too early to draw many conclusions about the validity of Florida.

But, nevertheless, some sports writers are getting excited about the Marlins, a statement that The Fightins explain in more ... ahem ... “adult” terms. Essentially, The Fightins argue that hopping on the Fish bandwagon this early in the season is the same as calling the Bengals contenders after a 1-0 start. That's a fair point, and one with which I agree. But The Fightins ignore the most glaring argument against anointing Florida this early: Six of its 13 games have been played against the Nationals.

Here are the numbers from the Marlins six games vs. Washington compared to their seven games against others (three against the Mets and Braves; one against the Pirates):

Vs. Nationals (6-0): 57 innings played, 45 runs scored, 25 runs allowed, .79 runs scored per inning, .44 runs allowed per inning.

Vs. others (5-2): 63 innings played, 32 runs scored, 28 runs allowed, .51 runs scored per inning, .44 runs allowed per inning.

So, basically, their pitching has been quality regardless of the opponent, but their offense has been considerably more potent against the Nationals, whose team ERA is 6.01, bad enough for second to last in the N.L. After its series in Pittsburgh, the Marlins host Philly, then go to N.Y. to play the Mets followed by a series at the Cubs. That should be a much more telling stretch then the 13 games they’ve played thus far.

Oh, and also: They have a slump busting can of tobacco as a secret weapon, something I did not factor into the above statistics.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.