Riding high on the wave of last year's postseason success, the Marlins and fans anticipated a solid kickoff to the 2024 Major League Baseball season — but that, most definitely, was not the case coming out of a four-game sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Slow April has become a tradition in Miami. After a disheartening 9-7 defeat in ten innings on Sunday afternoon at LoanDepot Park, the Marlins find themselves in a precarious position, with a season start of 0-4 for the first time since 2001.
After watching the Marlins secure their first full-season playoff spot in two decades and return the core of the team led by reigning National League Manager of the Year, Skip Schumaker, fans entertained hope that the opening series against the Pirates would reveal a squad ready to tinker and improve on what last year's team had accomplished.
In a 162-game season, four games — regardless of when they occur — do not make for a sample size to stress all that much about. In the aftermath of Sunday's loss, Schumaker addressed the team's rough start, reminding everyone that the Marlins began last season by losing four of their first five games, yet they managed to make the postseason.
In baseball manager talk, that means Chill, bro. It's a long season. That savvy advice aside, it would be hard to blame Marlins fans if starting a pivotal season 0-4 hasn't made them antsy about what's to come if things don't work out as planned.Marlins 0-4 for first time since 2001. Big question this year is whether it gets so bad that new regime blows it up and starts over for umpteenth time building around Eury and whatever else (Burger under team control for awhile, maybe Jazz)
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) March 31, 2024
And, of course, the elephant in the room is whether Marlins fans will once again find themselves the owners of jerseys featuring names and numbers of players who have been traded away in the name of the latest rebuilding project.
More losses. More trades. More rebuilding. More excuses from management on not increasing the team's payroll.
Hell, the excuses from the players have already begun, including from shortstop Jazz Chisholm, who claimed following Sunday's loss that the shadows were partly to blame for the team's horrid hitting — a problem that the Pirates seemed to handle just fine.
Because the marathon that is the MLB season waits for no team to get themselves together, the Marlins now prepare to host the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game series before embarking on a road trip against the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees. By the time the Marlins return home in mid-April, we will have an early yet better idea of who the 2024 Marlins are and what to expect from them."We're not used to playing in shadows; we normally play inside every day. When we get a shadow for 3/4 games at home for the first time this season, it's kind of hard to adjust to. We're used to the roof being closed and being able to see every at-bat..."
— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) March 31, 2024
🎙 Jazz Chisholm Jr. pic.twitter.com/TfbeQBXf9O
Amid the disappointing start to the season, outfielder Avisail García offered words of encouragement and belief in the team's potential despite struggling on the field and carrying the weight of his hefty contract and light batting average — along with a round of boos from the home crowd.
"We have another series. This is baseball. We're going to lose, we're going to win," García said following Sunday's game, adding, "This is not going to last forever. So we've just got to keep working and believe in ourselves. I believe in this team. I believe in our guys, and we've just got to keep working and be positive."
Marlins fans have been working on "staying positive" for decades now. A few more positive results on the field might help with that moving forward.
