As the Florida Marlins 2008 season concluded we look back on what went right, what went wrong, and what leaves us with hope for the 2009 season:

The good: The Marlins set a new club record for homeruns in a season. They smashed the ball everywhere they went and shared the wealth with 7 players hitting over 15 homers. Worried about an innings eater the Marlins had 2 pitchers throw for over 200 innings and Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad averaged 6+ innings a start from the time they were brought up. Jorge Cantu signed in the offseason to replace Cabrera did a solid job of it and finished as the Marlins 2nd best all around hitter with 29 homeruns, a team high 95 RBI’s and a solid 277 batting clip. Also a pleasant suprise was Jon Baker who was brought up due to injuries to the catching group. Baker not only provided a lift offensively by hitting 299 and driving in 32 runs in less than 200 at-bats, but he was able to call some great games. Johnson and Nolasco’s complete games were caught by Baker and he may have saved the Marlins from having to pursue a top flight catcher this offseason.

The bad: Defense while improved, was still a big factor and the Marlins struggled all year. Also the team struck out too many times and struggled moving runners up and scoring with a man on third and less than two outs. The Marlins can’t live on the 3 run homer forever and need to stop leaving easy runs out on the field.

The Hope” The hope for 2009 is strong. Cameron Maybin played great as a September call-up and will no doubt be the Marlins opening day center-fielder. The pitching staff took huge strides this year and with a healthy Johnson, Sanchez and Nolasco to go along with a matured Olsen, Volstad and Miller, the Marlins have a starting staff that can carry them to a Division title next year.