Through 19 games, the Marlins are historically bad

By Bill BaerApr 21, 2013, 6:05 PM EDT
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With a 10-6 loss to the Reds this afternoon, the Miami Marlins dropped to 4-15 on the season. Not that it is a shock to anyone, but they are by far the worst-hitting team in baseball: their .242 weighted on-base average (wOBA) is well below the second-worst Mariners’ .279.  The starting pitching has been decent, but the five-to-seven innings of good starting pitching is quickly undone by the bottom-feeding bullpen which includes such luminaries as John Maine and Chad Qualls.

The Marlins’ start through 19 games is historically bad. They have never won fewer than five games in their first 19 in franchise history — they started 5-14 in 1995, 1998, and 1999.

The Marlins, with 43 runs scored through 19, become the 19th team in baseball history to host such an anemic offense and only the fourth to do it in the 2000’s. The full list:

Team Date Wins WP RS RA RunDiff
CLV 5/27/1884 6 .316 42 108 -66
IND 5/30/1884 2 .111 42 133 -91
BSN 5/6/1905 6 .333 39 101 -62
STL 5/5/1907 3 .158 41 88 -47
BRO 5/11/1907 2 .111 21 70 -49
STL 5/10/1908 5 .263 41 57 -16
WSH 5/12/1909 6 .316 34 78 -44
NYG 5/12/1909 8 .421 41 54 -13
SLB 5/12/1910 4 .222 43 78 -35
STL 5/19/1919 5 .263 40 81 -41
CHW 5/16/1943 8 .421 40 51 -11
KCA 5/7/1966 5 .263 36 83 -47
CHW 5/5/1968 5 .263 40 65 -25
MIL 5/13/1972 6 .316 38 65 -27
BAL 4/26/1988 0 .000 36 118 -82
DET 4/23/2003 2 .105 43 100 -57
MON 4/25/2004 5 .263 34 72 -38
PIT 4/27/2012 8 .421 42 57 -15
MIA 4/21/2013 4 .211 43 89 -46

And with a -46 run differential, the Marlins become the 15th team since 1975 to start the season off so poorly and the eighth of the 2000’s. The list:

Team Date Wins WP RS RA RD
BAL 4/26/1988 0 .000 36 118 -82
ATL 4/30/1988 3 .158 50 104 -54
MIN 4/24/1994 6 .316 91 147 -56
BOS 4/22/1996 4 .211 72 119 -47
CIN 4/22/1997 6 .316 69 116 -47
DET 4/24/1998 4 .211 65 127 -62
DET 4/25/2000 5 .263 70 126 -56
TBD 4/22/2001 5 .263 66 121 -55
DET 4/23/2002 4 .211 76 125 -49
CIN 4/20/2003 6 .316 90 144 -54
TEX 4/20/2003 8 .421 77 125 -48
DET 4/23/2003 2 .105 43 100 -57
PIT 4/26/2010 7 .368 65 147 -82
MIA 4/21/2013  4 .211 43 89 -46

If the team gets any worse, Jeffrey Loria will have to find another fan or two to alienate.

Giants fire general manager Bobby Evans

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
By Bill BaerSep 24, 2018, 7:26 PM EDT
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Earlier today, Craig wrote about a potential shake-up in the Giants’ front office. It didn’t take long for that to come to fruition. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that the Giants have fired GM Bobby Evans.

Evans had been with the Giants for 25 years, starting in 1994 as a minor league administrative assistant. He was promoted to director of minor league operations in 1998, became the director of player personnel in 2005, then was named vice president of baseball operations in 2009. For the last four years, Evans has been the Giants’ general manager.

In part due to Evans’ influence, the Giants were quite successful, winning the World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. However, the last two years have been the Giants’ worst in quite some time. The club went 64-98 (.395) last year and enters Monday’s action 72-84 (.462) despite some splashy additions in the offseason (Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria).

There will certainly be conversations as to whether or not it’s fair that Evans is the fall guy for the Giants’ recent lack of success. But that’s part of the deal when you’re a public-facing employee in the front office of a baseball team. Pavlovic says it seems unlikely Evans remains with the organization in a different role.

The Giants have reportedly been considering hiring a “high-profile baseball operations executive” to push the team in a new direction. Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports reports that Ned Colletti is the favorite to become the new GM. The offseason is still more than a month away, so the Giants have some time to stew on their candidates and not make any rash decisions.