Copyright 1997 Adam Barnhart. All Rights Reserved. Fair use of this document.

Conventional wisdom has the Atlanta Braves walking off with the NL Pennant again this year. It's not an unreasonable supposition, looking at the best pitching staff in the league and a formidable offense with a little more spring in its step than this time last year. To boot, the Braves finished a full nine games ahead of the Marlins in the NL East, underscoring the general consensus that this is, again, the Braves' season.

It isn't that the above line of thinking is necessarily wrong, but when you look at the Marlins' numbers this year with an eye on productivity, rather than salary, something sticks out:

Offense

PLAYER	AVG	G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	SH	SF	HP	SLG%	OBP%
Renteria	.277	154	617	90	171	210	21	3	4	52	45	108	32	15	19	6	4	.340	.327
Bonilla	.297	153	562	77	167	263	39	3	17	96	73	94	6	6	0	8	5	.468	.378
Conine	.242	151	405	46	98	164	13	1	17	61	57	89	2	0	0	2	2	.405	.337
Alou	.292	150	538	88	157	265	29	5	23	115	70	85	9	5	0	7	4	.493	.373
Daulton	.263	136	395	68	104	183	21	8	14	63	76	74	6	1	0	9	2	.463	.378
Sheffield	.250	135	444	86	111	198	22	1	21	71	121	79	11	7	0	2	15	.446	.424
C. Johnson	.250	124	416	43	104	189	26	1	19	63	60	106	0	2	3	2	3	.454	.347
Eisenreich	.280	120	293	36	82	109	19	1	2	34	30	28	0	0	3	4	1	.372	.345
Cangelosi	.245	103	192	28	47	58	8	0	1	12	19	33	5	1	1	1	3	.302	.321
Abbott	.274	94	252	35	69	109	18	2	6	30	14	68	3	1	6	0	1	.433	.315
Arias	.247	74	93	13	23	28	2	0	1	11	12	12	0	1	4	0	3	.301	.352
D. White	.245	74	265	37	65	98	13	1	6	34	32	65	13	5	0	4	7	.370	.338
Floyd	.234	61	137	23	32	61	9	1	6	19	24	33	6	2	1	1	2	.445	.354
Counsell	.299	52	164	20	49	65	9	2	1	16	18	17	1	1	3	1	3	.396	.376

Pitching

PLAYER	W	L	S	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HB	WP	BK
K. Brown	16	8	0	2.69	33	33	6	2	237.1	214	77	71	10	66	205	14	7	1
L. Hernandez	9	3	0	3.18	17	17	0	0	96.1	81	39	34	5	38	72	3	0	0
J. Powell	7	2	2	3.28	74	0	0	0	79.2	71	35	29	3	30	65	4	3	0
A. Fernandez	17	12	0	3.59	33	32	5	1	220.2	193	93	88	25	69	183	4	9	0
Nen	9	3	35	3.89	73	0	0	0	74.0	72	35	32	7	40	81	0	5	0
A. Leiter	11	9	0	4.34	27	27	0	0	151.1	133	78	73	13	91	132	12	2	0
Saunders	4	6	0	4.61	22	21	0	0	111.1	99	62	57	12	64	102	2	2	1

In all candor, this isn't a particularly impressive performance from the talent that Wayne Huizenga's wallet was able to amass. While Alou had a breakout year and Sheffield was able to balance some relatively disappointing power numbers with plate discipline of historic proportions, the overall offensive and defensive numbers don't quite measure up to what they might have reasonably been.

With the numbers not quite describing the talent level on the roster, one is left with the feeling that the Marlins are likely going to make a series of this. The starting pitching doesn't match up, of course, but Brown and Fernandez aren't exactly chopped liver, and the Marlin bullpen doesn't seem to have the fumblitis the Braves have been afflicted with over the years. The Marlin offense, at a glance, seems stronger than Atlanta's, and with Sheffield, Conine, and White possibly primed to hit the ball a little harder than during the regular season, you're looking at a sprint to the pennant that could easily wind up a photo finish.