Miami Marlins vs. New York Mets | July 14, 2019

Miami, FL – The bad omen first pitch doomed the Miami Marlins, losing 6-2 to the New York Mets Sunday afternoon at Marlins Park. Jeff McNeil got a hold of Sandy Alcantara’s four-seam fastball and launched his second career leadoff home run in today’s edition of Bark in the Park. Going up against Jacob deGrom, the team was able to run his pitch count up towards 100 pitches, forcing his exit after five innings. However, problems at the plate persisted. The Fish stranded 12, going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and squandering two instances of loading the bases.

First pitch? That's @JeffMcNeil805's niche. 💪 #LGM pic.twitter.com/mAT6HbCrBs

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 14, 2019

Pete Alonso also took Alcantara deep in the first, slamming his four-seam fastball to left field. Miami was spared a run after Curtis Granderson tracked down the hit, making a terrific leaping catch at the wall to rob Alonso.

Over the wall and through the woods, TO THE HOUSE we go. #JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/8UJvHsx3WF

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 14, 2019

Miguel Rojas showed some clutch hitting in the second when he lined to right field with the bases juiced to tie the game. Granderson tried to leg one out to home but was easily tagged for the final out of the inning.

Alcantara ran into more trouble in the fourth giving up two base hits and a walk to load the infield. Adeiny Hechavarria hit a grounder to Rojas at short but was unable to make the throw to home, going instead to first allowing Robinson Cano to cross the plate. Michael Conforto hit an RBI single against the shift for another run. The team eventually got out of the jam but the Mets ended up tacking on consecutive scores in the sixth, seventh and eighth.

Miami had another opportunity in the seventh inning with the bases full of Marlins but Brian Anderson struck out looking and Starlin Castro grounded out to short to end the inning.

The Fish wouldn’t score another run until the ninth when Garrett Cooper smacked his tenth of the season off Mets reliever Robert Gsellman.

Garrett Cooper homers (10) on a fly ball to right center off Robert Gsellman
Exit Velocity 103 MPH
Distance 388 FT
Launch Angle 26.63#LGM vs #JuntosMiami pic.twitter.com/Wyj0UKAZlx

— Strand Sport Stats (@StrandStats) July 14, 2019

What could have been

Looking over some stats brought up an interesting question, would Cooper be worthy of All-Star consideration if he didn’t get injured? He spent a good chunk of the season (All of April) on the injured list but his numbers last month and on the year are surprising. May was decent for him,  hitting .274/.352/.435 with one double, three home runs and 11 RBIs in 62 at-bats. But in June he was tearing it up, slashing .372/.427/.564 in 94 ABs.

On the season heading into today’s game, his stat line was .306/.375/.487 notching six doubles, nine round-trippers, and 33 RBIs. Keep in mind Anderson leads the team in homers with 12 and also in RBIs with 40. Elsewhere Rojas led the team with 90 hits to Coopers 59. Granted, Sandy Alcantara was the lone Marlin to make it to the All-Star Game this year but a healthier Cooper would’ve generated some buzz.

In a quick comparison, All-Star and big-name Pete Alonso, who also won this year’s Home Run Derby, is slashing .277/.371/.623 with 30 HRs and 68 RBIs heading into today’s game. I highly doubt Cooper could match his strength (15-20 home runs is more plausible) but one doesn’t need to be a heavy hitter to make it to the ASG. The way Cooper has been hitting, 50-60 RBIs at this point in the season was possible had he stayed healthy. Would it have made him an All-Star? Depends. Popularity and other factors besides stats go into whether or not a player makes it in. While he might’ve not made it anyways barring some sort of breakout year, I can’t help but feel Cooper could’ve been in the conversation. Heading deeper into the season, the big questions now are can he stay healthy and can he replicate his June numbers the rest of the way.

With the trade deadline coming, another set of questions comes to mind. Would anyone be interested in Cooper and if so, would Miami trade him?

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