Best duos in Miami Marlins history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Miami Marlins history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 2012 Miami Marlins
- Giancarlo Stanton: 5.4 WAR (#20 position player in 2012)
- Mark Buehrle: 4.2 WAR (#18 pitcher in 2012)
- Total: 9.6 WAR
#9. 2017 Miami Marlins
- Giancarlo Stanton: 7.9 WAR (#4 position player in 2017)
- Jose Urena: 1.9 WAR (#86 pitcher in 2017)
- Total: 9.8 WAR
#8. 2006 Florida Marlins
- Miguel Cabrera: 5.8 WAR (#13 position player in 2006)
- Dontrelle Willis: 4.1 WAR (#23 pitcher in 2006)
- Total: 9.9 WAR
#7. 2008 Florida Marlins
- Hanley Ramirez: 6.7 WAR (#10 position player in 2008)
- Ricky Nolasco: 4.2 WAR (#27 pitcher in 2008)
- Total: 10.9 WAR
#6. 2014 Miami Marlins
- Giancarlo Stanton: 6.5 WAR (#5 position player in 2014)
- Henderson Alvarez III: 4.7 WAR (#11 pitcher in 2014)
- Total: 11.2 WAR
#5. 2010 Florida Marlins
- Dan Uggla: 4.3 WAR (#39 position player in 2010)
- Josh Johnson: 7 WAR (#4 pitcher in 2010)
- Total: 11.3 WAR
#4. 1997 Florida Marlins
- Charles Johnson: 4.4 WAR (#33 position player in 1997)
- Kevin Brown: 7 WAR (#7 pitcher in 1997)
- Total: 11.4 WAR
#3. 2005 Florida Marlins
- Miguel Cabrera: 5.2 WAR (#18 position player in 2005)
- Dontrelle Willis: 7.3 WAR (#2 pitcher in 2005)
- Total: 12.5 WAR
#2. 1996 Florida Marlins
- Gary Sheffield: 5.9 WAR (#17 position player in 1996)
- Kevin Brown: 7.9 WAR (#2 pitcher in 1996)
- Total: 13.8 WAR
#1. 2009 Florida Marlins
- Hanley Ramirez: 7.3 WAR (#6 position player in 2009)
- Josh Johnson: 6.7 WAR (#4 pitcher in 2009)
- Total: 14 WAR
