Fish Bites

Today's Marlins links come with me tired. Got up at 6 AM, but ready to link by 10 AM. Here we go.

- Tonight's game between Florida and Boston should be an interesting one. Ricky Nolasco will go up against Jon Lester, and one can be assured that a lot of bats will be missed. With the way the Marlins have been hitting all series, it's likely many of those will be on our side, but remember that the Sox didn't look very good against Andrew Miller last night, and Nolasco has been on his game as of late. In Nolasco's two outings since returning from his stint at Triple-A, he's thrown 13 innings, allowing 15 hits with 13 strikeouts and four walks to his credit. If the Fish can put up some early runs support, we could salvage a game in this three-game series.

- As for last night's game, congratulations to Red Sox starter and former Marlin Brad Penny for earning his 100th win last night. I'll always remember Penny fondly for pitching well in 2003, especially coming up big during the playoffs and World Series for the Marlins. Were it not for Beckett's masterful two games, we might have seen Penny win a World Series MVP.

- The Marlins won't financially close the stadium deal for another two weeks, reports the Herald. As mentioned yesterday, the combination of a forced vote thanks to Wachovia's demand for up-front fees and a citizen lawsuit trying to force an injunction on construction. I can't wait for all of this to be over.

- Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun-Sentinel Marlins blog reports some early struggles for top prospect Mike Stanton in Double-A. Well, that can't be too surprising, as it is the second biggest jump in a young prospect's career, moving from A to Double-A. By all accounts however, I've heard Stanton is one smart kid, and he's young enough that he can also afford to make some mistakes early. As Rodriguez mentions, the worst taht could happen is that he spends the rest of the year in Double-A (he definitely has nothing else to prove in A-ball), plays offseason ball, comes to Spring Training, and repeats Double-A until the Show calls. And it will come a calling for Stanton.

- Wes Helms doesn't think players with PED's on their record should get into the Hall of Fame. Certainly one way to look at it, though I fear the Hall will be pretty empty with some pretty good names left out if it were to turn out like that. I don't like to weigh in on steroids because I'm more interested in baseball today, but if everyone was supposedly doing it, it'd be tough to hold everyone out.

- For some non-Marlins stuff, check out Dan Turkenkopf's piece on adjusting steals for win value. Fun to see, especially with regarding Rickey Henderson's 1982 record 130 steals. For those who think the steal is back as a dangerous threat, take note. Also, Tom Tango doesn't quite agree with Dan's numbers.

- Finally, in case you haven't seen this, here's Dave Cameron's take on the most devastating crappy pitch in the big leagues. I laughed a lot when I read this, but you can't argue with the results.