Marlins Question 2: Is The Bench Good Enough?

How important is the bench you ask?  Must be pretty important because the Cardinals had a great bench last year with guys like Punto, Descalso, Craig and Laird or in 2010 when the Giants had Fontenot, Guillen, Rowand, Schierholtz or the guy who hit the big HR Edgar Renteria.  even the Yankees had a great bench in 2009 with Cervelli, Francisco Pena, Gardner, Molina or Hinske.  The Marlins need a good bench in 2012 and they might just have it.  Let’s take a look

Brett Hayes- He’s not really good but in a back-up catcher you don;t need that, you just need a guy who can fill in 6-7 times a month without hurting you and Hayes is that.  He’s a classic back-up catcher and has some good defense and his hitting won;t be great but he can get some timely hits and not kill you behind the plate.  Hayes WAR, or how much better he’d be than a AAA guy, will be about 0.5, which is okay for a backup catcher and he has a 5 Win Shares, a Bill James stat in which each player is award a share for his contributions in however many games the team wins, his career and could get 3 or 4 more this year.  He passes the test

Chris Coghlan- A former ROY winner who has been moved around the diamond and hampered by injuries, he should prove himself this year.  He will likely split time with Emilio Bonifacio, though Boni will get more playing time and he will be a pretty good super utility player.  He may not be as good as what his rookie year was ever again but he could be a successful big leaguer and put up some good numbers in right around 100 games, this year and beyond.  This year he should do well but may run into some slumps, but he’s to good to be affected too much.  He passes the test.

Greg Dobbs- A former World Champ on the Phillies he has shown he can be a great bench guy who can pinch hit well and fill in pretty good and he got off to a great start last year and expect a decent start again and he will be the Marlins best pinch hitter and do his job very well.  He has shown time and time again he can do it in his career and be a winner.  He should have in between 6 and 7 win shares if his history proves correct and passes the test of being a good bench guy even though he’s older.

Bryan Petersen- He’s the Marlins fourth outfielder and a decent and up and coming outfielder, but he will probably never start.  He could carve out a good big league career and it starts this year.  He hit .265 last year and may improve on that by 5 points or so and be a decent hitter for a backup and could get up to 10 Win Shares this season and should get better and be right around average on defense.  I like him as a fourth outfielder and he passes.

Donnie Murphy- A career journeyman who latched on with the Marlins after some clutch hits, Murphy should regress some but he should still have some good moments.  His stats don;t look to promising but if he can get above the Mendoza line he could stick with his versatility.  He borderline on passing for me but not everyone ahs to pass or even be great as long as the make some small contributions and he should.

ALSO: Matt Dominguez should see time at some point and his hitting is a little above average so in his time he may make a pretty good player and Scott Cousins is decent and once he gets a shot he could do okay too

The Marlins bench isn’t the best but it’s above average and should do the job and maybe some more.  Having a good bench doesn’t mean everything but it’s a small key to being good.

NL EAST BENCH RANKINGS

1. Phillies
2. Marlins
3. Mets
4. Nationals
5. Braves