Xavier Edwards and Jake Burger highlight Marlins’ encouraging series against the Mets

After a disastrous start to the season, the Miami Marlins (35-65) had an encouraging four-game series against the New York Mets (51-48), taking two games from the Queens-based team. With an impactful trade deadline coming up, the Marlins demonstrated they were blocking out the noise with energizing performances from several players in the lineup.

Here are three takeaways from the past series.

Xavier Edwards continues hot streak

The beginning of the 2024 season was not kind to Edwards, as he spent the majority of his time on the injury list due to a left foot infection. But once the 24-year old shortstop came back into the lineup in June, he quickly became one of the best hitters on the team. During the past 15 days, Edwards has tallied the most hits and walks out of anybody on the team. He currently holds a .343 batting average and a .429 on-base percentage on the year on 67 at-bats this season.

While Edwards has been a positive force for Miami offensively, he has struggled defensively so far, holding a -3 outs above average (OAA). He has shown the range to make difficult defensive plays, but often cannot finish them off due to possessing a weaker arm. If Edwards can improve his throwing arm and can begin to play shortstop at an average level, his offensive skill set will render him a valuable player on the market.

Sluggers step up

Coming into July, it didn’t look like Josh Bell and Jake Burger could repeat the success of their Wild Card run in 2023. Coming into July, Burger had a dismal .217 batting average and .601 OPS (on-base plus slugging) while Bell had a .303 OBP and a .676 OPS.

However, Burger found his bat at the beginning of the month, tallying a hit in six of his last seven games before the all-star break. That momentum carried over into the series versus the Mets, as Burgers was able to tally a hit in every game this series and also hit two home runs.

While Bell has still not found his groove yet, Monday’s game is an optimistic sign. The 31-year old first baseman had two walks and a home run to help keep the deficit manageable.

Schumaker said that Bell worked relentlessly with his father and the Marlins hitting coaches to figure out his swing.

“You could see in [batting practice] with Burger and Bell the last week or so,” Schumaker said. “You could see it was coming. Josh spent all four days [of All-Star break] here working and he was going to figure it out.”

Similarly, left-fielder Bryan De La Cruz has also struggled this month, but accumulated three hits in today’s game, including a solo home run.

While all three players may not be in the Marlins’ future plans, improving their play closer to the trade deadline means the team could be in a better negotiating position should they chose to trade them.

Winning is still the objective

Despite possessing an NL-worst 35-65 record, manager Skip Schumaker had a team meeting where he let the players know that despite the rough start, that winning games was still the top priority.

“We spoke earlier before the day started that competing is a mindset, not a moment,” Schumaker said after game one. “I think the compete factor showed up today.”

Against the Mets, who are currently the last team in the NL wild card race, the Marlins put together four competitive games that often came down to the last innings. No game was decided by more than two runs.

Despite the trade rumors surrounding prominent players like Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Tanner Scott, the team has confined themselves to the baseball field, and early signs show that it is paying off.

“It was a tough first half, [it was] not what everyone envisioned when we got out of spring training,” Schumaker said before the series. “The messaging is that we’re not trying to get through a season. That’s not who we are. We don’t want to get comfortable losing. We’re trying to figure out how to compete against some teams that are trying to get into the playoffs.”

With the AL East’s first place Orioles and the NL Central’s first-place Brewers coming to town this week, the Marlins will find out sooner than later if their post all-star game adjustments can help them compete against the best teams in the league.