On May 11th, the Marlins suffered lost their 6th loss in 7 games and found themselves 6 games under .500. Last night the Marlins beat the Orioles to get their record back to .500. Try and think back, since May the 11th, of all those writers or commentators who have told you that the Marlins meager payroll finally caught up to them. ‘This team can’t continue to compete’ … yada yada yada.

It is not surprising to find local media who are willing to bury the Marlins after a slump [even in May]. They are in jobs that require either originality or negativity. Given that originality is rare because it is difficult, negativity is a fairly rational choice on their part. But do keep the doomsayers [the Mandichian candidates?] cluelessness in mind during the next Marlins slump.

The last time we looked at what’s right with the Marlins was back in May, let’s update the good news about the Florida Marlins:

• 25 year-old Josh Johnson leads the NL [the AL is dead to me] in innings pitched, is tied for the lead in quality starts and is 4th in ERA.
• 24 year-old Andrew Miller has been more consistent since coming off the DL in May and gave up only 1 hit in his 7 innings against the Orioles.
• 22 year-old Chris Volstad gave up more than 4 runs in a start for the first time in his 27 career starts in back to back starts in June. That raised his ERA by a full run. However, he bounced back with what now can be described as a typical Volstad effort against the Yankees — 6 innings, 3 earned runs.
• 26 year-old Ricky Nolasco has an ERA of 2.50 in his last 3 starts since returning from the DL in June. Included in that was allowing the Red Sox only 1 hit in 5 innings at Fenway.
• 23 year-old Sean West’s only bad start [out of 6] was his last, a loss against the Yankees at home last Friday.
• Kiko Calero, Dan Meyer and Renyel Pinto all have ERA’s under 2.22 and are part of a Marlins bullpen which leads the NL in innings pitched. Unfortunately, likely resulting from that over-use, Calero and Pinto have spent time on the DL this year.
• 25 year-old Hanley Ramirez is hitting .329 and is about to start his 2nd All-Star game.
• In 24 year-old left-handed batter Chris Coghlan, the Marlins appear to have found their leadoff hitter. After seeing his average drop to .200 after his first month, Coghlan did what all players who stick in the majors do, he adjusted. He’s at .275 overall now and he’s actually hitting over .300 in the lead-off spot.
• Dan Uggla remains a productive RBI man, despite his Mendoza skirting average.