August 13th: Signed C Jonathan Lucroy to a minor-league contract. Lucroy had been kicking around the Astros organization this year, getting into 6 major league games, mostly as a defensive replacement, and going 1-4 with a walk and a strikeout at the plate. His leadership will be a plus down the stretch for a Jacksonville team trying to make a playoff push, and with him already announcing his retirement earlier in the year, he might get a few games with the big league club on his way out.
August 21st: Yoenis Cespedes signs a 1 year, $1.5M extension - Cespedes signed as a minor league free agent and hit well enough in Triple-A to get the call up to the big leagues after Jesus Aguilar was traded. Now, he’ll be locked in as a 1B/DH/corner OF power bat for 2023. Worst case scenario, his contract is cheap enough that you’re not going to be upset if he turns back into a pumpkin and gets hurt again next year. He’s hitting .284/.349/.537 with 6 HR & 18 RBI in 109 PAs at the time of the extension.
August 22nd: Not a transaction, but just wanted to note for some fun foreshadowing: Cespedes goes 3-5 with a double, 2 HRs, & 3 RBI in the first game after signing his extension.
August 23rd: Yoenis Cespedes is placed on the 10-day IL with back stiffness. It’s a playable injury, but I know this guy’s history and with the team falling under .500 for literally the first time all season, it was better to play it safe. JJ Bleday will get the call to cover DH while Cespedes rests up his back, and Lewin Diaz will cover 1B against righties for him. Bleday was most likely getting a call-up when rosters expand on September 1st, so this is just getting him here a week early.
August 29th: Claimed Mitch White off waivers from the LA Dodgers. The Dodgers tried to sneak White through waivers when they called up Caleb Ferguson, but Miami placed a claim on him. White is 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA this season, logging 40 innings over 22 relief appearances with the Dodgers. He’s got a 44:10 K:BB ratio, and only 6 homers allowed. He’s been a swingman for the Dodgers, and will probably stick in relief this year with the Marlins seeing as there’s not much time to stretch him out - but most expect him to get a shot at the rotation in Spring Training 2023.
August Record: 12-16 (65-65 overall, 10.5 GB of 1st in the NL East & 4.5 GB of last wild-card)
Back-to-back weekends against the Dodgers? Not a recipe for a fun month, as Miami lost 5 out of 6 games against LA, with 3 of those 5 losses being double-digit beatdowns. They did manage to sweep the 4 game Battle of Florida for 2022, though, so bragging rights for the Marlins over the Rays.
The stats are backing up that this is a pretty bad team playing slightly over their heads. They’re 5 games ahead of their Pythagorean Pace, which doesn’t seem like a lot until you see that they should be 60-70 based on their run differential - and 60-70 looks wayyyy worse than 65-65. The pitching is still sticking around the middle of the pack, but they’re last in nearly every major batting category in the NL. They’re doing well at avoiding strikeouts and stealing bases though! They also need to really do some work on that defense next season - that zone rating is atrocious.
The August stats back it up, but there are some bright spots to highlight - Jesus Sanchez seems like he’s finally getting it in gear this season, with a hot August that saw him bat .340 with a .922 OPS. Yoenis Cespedes was tearing the cover off the ball before hitting the IL, and has been a pleasant surprise for a guy picked off the scrap heap. Brian Anderson didn’t hit a lot but hit them far, with 11 of his 16 base hits in August being of the extra base variety. Meanwhile, the veterans with pedigrees continue to struggle, with Jorge Soler, Avisail Garcia, and Garrett Cooper all having miserable months. Luis Rengifo also struggled mightily once coming over from the Angels, and may already be out of runway in his audition to replace Miguel Rojas as the team’s starting SS.
Pablo Lopez continues to be a bright spot in this rotation, with another solid month in August. Trever Rogers was right there with him, matching his ERA in one less start. The back end of the bullpen continues to flourish with Tanner Scott and Dylan Floro having another great month. Jesus Luzardo, though, got roughed up in all of his 5 starts and Tom Cosgrove pitched himself right off the major league roster with a string of bad appearances to end the month - his last 5 outings consisted of 5.2 IP, 17 hits allowed, 15 runs(all earned), 3 walks, and 8 strikeouts - and somehow only 2 home runs allowed. He’ll get some stretch run time with the Jumbo Shrimp to see if he can get himself right for next season.