Miami Marlins 2016 Preview: Is This Team World Series-bound?

(photo credit: miamisportsnlife.wix.com/mslblog)
The Miami Marlins were haunted by injuries to a few of their best players in 2015, including pitcher Jose Fernandez, who didn't take the mound until the beginning of July, and Giancarlo Stanton, who hit 27 HRs in 74 games before missing the rest of the season with injury. Had he been healthy all season, he would have been on pace for 59 home runs.

Not only will the Marlins have these two players back healthy, but they will also be returning two other superstars in 2B Dee Gordon, who won the NL Golden Glove Award in his first season in Miami after being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason, and future baseball Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, who is just a few hits away from joining the 3,000 hit club.

Justin Bour was another big part of the Marlins team last season. He hit 23 HRs and recorded 73 RBIs. He also recorded 20 doubles in 2015.

Speaking of the Dodgers, the Marlins have also hired one of the best managers to manage this team in 2016, former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. Mattingly took the Dodgers to three straight postseason appearances and each of his Dodgers teams finished with a record above .500 in each of the five seasons he coached the team.

The Marlins have also brought in the all-time leader in HRs, Barry Bonds, as their hitting coach. There should be no doubt that with Bonds as their hitting coach, the Marlins will be hitting a lot of balls this season and may lead the league in home runs.

The Marlins will have some competition in the NL East with Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals and the defending NL Champion New York Mets, but with the starpower Miami has, if they can find the weak spot in those teams, as well as the other powerful NL teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Mattingly's former team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Marlins could make a run in the postseason and we could see them in the World Series for the first time since the Florida Marlins beat the New York Yankees in the 2003 World Series.


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