Fernandez’s Fish Market: Catching up with Miggy, the Marlins’ Colombian connection and more from the Motor City

DETROIT – Most would agree that Miguel Cabrera is at the center of one of the Marlins’ all-time worst trades.

In 2008, the Marlins made history becoming the first team to have all four starting infielders hit 25 or more home runs in a season.

Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez and Mike Jacobs each hit more than 30. Jorge Cantú just missed 30 by one home run.

Imagine that offense had Cabrera remained in Miami.

“Whenever someone brings up my time with the Marlins, for me, it brings up fond memories,” Cabrera told The Athletic in Spanish this week before one of the Tigers’ games against the Marlins.

What if the Marlins hadn’t shipped him off to Detroit in that eight-player swap after the 2007 season that sent him and Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers for a six-prospect package that included Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin?

In Cabrera’s final season in Miami, he hit .320 and led the Marlins with 119 RBIs. That season, the Marlins set still-standing club records for hits (1,504), runs (790), doubles (340) and slugging percentage (.448).

The Marlins hit 208 home runs — the third-most in the majors in 2008 — behind their historic infield power surge. They finished 84-77 and 5 1/2 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL wild-card spot.

Was Cabrera the missing ingredient to make it a playoff season?

Cabrera led the American League with 37 home runs that season and had a 2.7 WAR, an .887 OPS and an adjusted OPS of 130.

Cabrera, who still lives and trains in Miami in the offseason, said he didn’t like speculating on what could have been.

“Those are things you can’t control and they’re business decisions that teams make,” Cabrera said. “I really don’t think about that.”

In 2010, the Marlins traded both Maybin and Miller, who would eventually become a two-time All-Star reliever with the Yankees and Indians, and the rest of the prospects in the deal either didn’t last long in the majors or never made it.

Cabrera, a four-time All-Star as a Marlin, went on to have what many consider a Hall of Fame career with two MVPs, four batting titles and, in 2012, the first Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

Cabrera, now 36, is still hitting cleanup for the Tigers and is moving up the all-time lists in multiple offensive categories — as he did Tuesday when he tied Carlos Beltrán for 61st in MLB history in hits (2,725) and tied Tony Perez for 31st in RBIs (1,652).

But multiple injuries limited Cabrera’s playing time last year and have contributed to his power numbers declining drastically over the past two-plus seasons.

Cabrera hit 38 home runs in 2016 – his last All-Star season – but has hit just 20 since.

Cabrera was called up to the majors at age 20 in May of 2003 and played a key role in the Marlins’ title run. He hit .268 with 12 home runs, three triples and 68 RBIs that season.

In a recent interview with The Athletic, Willis said rookies like he and Cabrera prompted the more experienced players on that team to elevate their level of play after the team’s 16-22 start.

“That year was special because we battled so much,” Cabrera said. “Since June and July, we felt like we were in the playoffs. We were a bunch of kids, me and Dontrelle, and we became the key pieces of that team and everything clicked for us.”

(David Berding / USA Today)

Still playful Miggy

Cabrera said a few words to Marlins starter José Ureña after each time he faced him. Ureña walked Cabrera in the first inning but retired him on grounders the next two times using a deceptive 90-91 mph changeup that Cabrera told Ureña he couldn’t tell apart from his fastball, which he cranked up to 97 mph.

Ureña appreciated the compliment but stayed wary in case Cabrera was trying to bait him to change his approach.

“He was being funny, but I have to go inside on him because he’s a pretty good hitter,” Ureña said. “It’s nice when they compliment you, but you know the game. He might be saying it’s good because they’re changing their approach to it.”

Ureña’s win Wednesday, just his second of 2019, came in Miami’s 6-3 triumph against the Tigers, the team’s fifth straight victory. The Marlins improved to 15-31 on the season and now stand just 2 1/2 games behind the Nationals in the NL East.

The last time the Marlins won five in a row was during a seven-game winning streak April 24-30, 2016. That surge began on a getaway day in San Francisco, carried over to Los Angeles where the Marlins picked up their first-ever four-game sweep of the Dodgers, and then continued for two more games against Milwaukee.

The L.A. series ended with Dee Gordon getting suspended for 80 games for the use of a performance-enhancing supplement, and Adam Conley threw 7 2/3 no-hit innings in Milwaukee the next day before being removed after throwing 116 pitches.

Following the blueprint

The Marlins’ pitching depth continues to manifest throughout the organization.

Ureña’s changeup is limiting hitters to a .129 average this season and has helped him improve over his past three starts, during which he has a 1.89 ERA over 19 innings without allowing a home run.

Boosted by recent superb outings from Pablo López and Sandy Alcantara, the club’s major-league rotation is ranked 15th in ERA (4.09), 13th in WHIP (1.26) and 13th in strikeout percentage (21.9).

At Triple-A New Orleans, Zac Gallen leads the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts (74), ERA (1.79), WHIP (0.65), FIP (3.07), strikeout-to-walk percentage (29.6) and opponent’s batting average (.141) over his first 60 1/3 innings (nine starts) this season.

At Double-A Jacksonville, Jordan Yamamoto pitched seven no-hit innings on Monday. Yamamoto has a 1.80 ERA with 20 strikeouts and five walks in his past four starts.

At Advanced-A Jupiter, Trevor Rogers struck out 10 in his most recent start and the Marlins’ first-round pick from 2017 has a 2.18 ERA in 45 1/3 innings. Scouts have mentioned to The Athletic in recent weeks that both Edward Cabrera (2.17 ERA) and Jordan Holloway (1.50 ERA) have top-of-the-rotation potential.

At Single-A Clinton, right-hander Chris Vallimont threw seven hitless innings and has a 2.66 ERA over his past 27 innings.

Colombian connection

Harold Ramírez, 24, has begun to get comfortable at the plate, going five for his first 19 at the plate, including his first career home run Tuesday at Comerica Park when he hit a ball 362 feet to the opposite field off Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull.

The Marlins are giving Ramírez, who hit .355 with four home runs and a .999 OPS at Triple A, an opportunity to work his way into a long-term role with the team.

On Tuesday, Ramírez played center field for the first time since playing there three games in the Venezuelan Winter League last year. Ramírez hadn’t played center field in the minors since he played for the Blue Jays’ Double-A affiliate in Manchester, N.H.

Ramírez recently helped the Marlins become the first major-league team to have three Colombian players on its roster at the same time.

His two countrymen made sure he felt welcome.

Reliever Tayron Guerrero and catcher Jorge Alfaro picked up Ramírez at JFK International Airport in New York on May 11 when he was called up from Triple-A New Orleans.

Next was lunch at a Colombian restaurant in the area where the three former teammates and rivals caught up for the first time since spring training.

Ramírez and Guerrero were teammates in 2013 with the Cartagena Tigres, and they and Alfaro played against each other on different clubs in Colombia in years prior.

“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Guerrero said. “It’s great to see what he’s been able to do in a short time and earn this opportunity.”

Marlins outfielder Harold Ramírez celebrates with teammates after his solo home run against the Tigers on Tuesday at Comerica Park. (Raj Mehta / USA Today)

Thoughts from the road

— Chad Wallach has made the Marlins look good for choosing him as their backup catcher. Wallach’s 420-foot, go-ahead double on Tuesday was only his second career game-winning RBI and his farthest-hit ball this season. Wallach is hitting .250/.333/.375 with a 100 OPS+ in 54 plate appearances.

Defensively, Wallach’s framing numbers continue to impress. Wallach ranks 21st in strike rate among all catchers (49.5 percent), which is the percentage of converting non-swing pitches into called strikes. Wallach has been particularly strong at framing pitches on the inside edge to righties (80.6 percent).

— For everyone this offseason who wanted the Marlins to sign Carlos Gonzalez, the 33-year-old veteran was designated for assignment Wednesday by the Cleveland Indians. Gonzalez, who signed a one-year deal worth $2 million, hit .210 with a .558 OPS, two home runs and seven RBIs in 117 plate appearances.

Curtis Granderson, who signed with the Marlins for one-year and $1.75 million, entered Wednesday’s games hitting .183 with a higher OPS (.647), more home runs (five) and more RBIs (13) in 120 plate appearances.

Not a big difference either way, but the Marlins saved a little money, and Granderson potentially has four more months to make an impact on the roster and their clubhouse.

— The Marlins are already impacting the NL East title race.

After their recent three-game sweep of the Mets — the Marlins’ first series sweep since Sept. 18-20, 2017, which came coincidentally against the Mets at home — they are now 8-16 against division foes. The Marlins are 2-1 against the Nationals, 3-5 against the Mets, 2-5 against the Phillies and 1-5 against the Braves.

— Monte Harrison is tracking toward a late-summer or perhaps September call-up to the majors. Harrison is hitting .287 with an .834 OPS, six home runs and 12 extra-base hits overall.

The improved slugging is a positive sign after Harrison saw his power numbers dwindle (no home runs, three extra-base hits) in the 2018 Arizona Fall League after making some adjustments to his swing. Harrison has also shown off his speed, stealing 16 bases in 16 attempts.

Harrison is still striking out at a high rate, 31.6 percent, that’s only slightly better than the 36.9 percent he finished with a year ago. The Marlins will want to see those numbers improve even more before deeming him ready for a major-league debut.

— Shortstop Jose Devers, acquired in the trade for Giancarlo Stanton, remains one of the most consistent hitters in the organization. Devers, who at 19 is the youngest player in the Florida State League, is hitting .325 with a .751 OPS in 123 at-bats with Advanced-A Jupiter.

(Top photo of Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera: Raj Mehta / USA Today)