The Marlins Outfield: A Source Of Pleasure

It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.

The Miami Marlins are known for roster turnover, but they’ll return their entire starting outfield for the 2015 season. Those starters range from 23 to 25 years old, and they possess the tools to be fantastic fantasy assets. The Fish traded away a few outfield prospects who might have served as valuable depth. Instead, they’ll depend on one old guy to back up three positions. It mostly worked for them last season with Reed Johnson.

Left Field
Christian Yelich
Ichiro Suzuki

Center Field
Marcell Ozuna
Christian Yelich
Ichiro Suzuki

Right Field
Giancarlo Stanton
Ichiro Suzuki

The elephant in the room is Stanton. After “scuffling” in 2013 (he posted a 135 wRC+), Stanton took off in 2014. His 37 home runs tied a career high. Despite missing the final 20 games, his home run total finished five ahead of the second best slugger in the National League – Anthony Rizzo (32 home runs). Stanton also contributed with 89 runs, 105 RBI, 13 stolen bases, and a .288 average.

The lineup is similar to last season. Dee Gordon and Martin Prado have joined the club in place of Casey McGehee and, uh, Rafael Furcal. Stanton should have similar run production opportunities as a result. Keep in mind, his 13 steals were a complete surprise. I suggest you bank on five swipes and hope to be pleasantly surprised. Stanton hits the ball ridiculously hard, but we should still expect regression from his .353 BABIP. Steamer and the fans project a batting average just south of .280.

Yelich posted an exciting season as a 22-year-old, with 94 runs, nine home runs, 54 RBI, 21 steals, and a .284 average. Those familiar with the analysis are aware of his sky high ground ball rate, which holds down his fantasy value. His average fly ball distance is sandwiched between Nolan Arenado and Chris Carter. There’s power in his bat, he just doesn’t tap into it frequently.

He profiles rather similarly to Michael Brantley. He’s perhaps too patient at the plate, which is why he struck out nearly 21 percent of the time last season despite a low 6.8 percent whiff rate. The patience resulted in a walk rate over 10 percent, which is a good asset from a leadoff hitter. He could perhaps offer more value to the club if he’s slid back a couple spots in the order.

With his latent power, speed, and contact ability, Yelich could someday become a better version of Brantley. However, do remember how long it took Brantley to breakout. Even though it’s possible, don’t count on a sudden surge of power in 2015.

Ozuna is perhaps the least interesting of the Marlins outfielders, but that’s only because his fellows are so intriguing. As a 23-year-old, he managed 72 runs, 23 home runs, 85 RBI, three stolen bases, and a .269 average. He’s expected to post similar numbers this season.

The righty is a young, burgeoning power hitter. It wouldn’t be a shock to see his 13.7 percent whiff rate decrease or his .186 ISO increase. There’s also room in the forecast for a more pessimistic projection based on strikeout rate and home park.

While the starters are youthful, the primary backup is not. Ichiro, 41, remains a useful real and fantasy player. If he finds his way into consistent playing time, he can still contribute in the runs, steals, and average categories. He used to show a pretense of power with five to 15 home runs per season. Don’t count on anything leaving the park after he bopped just one big fly as a Yankee last season.