JUPITER, Fla. The riddle of clubhouse chemistry may never be truly solved, even with all the advanced metrics used in analyzing baseball.

Doesgood clubhouse chemistry result inmorewinning? Or does winning foster good clubhouse chemistry?

One thing is certain, it helps to get along over the course of a season that begins in mid-February with spring training and can end as late as the first week of November if a team advances to the seventh game of the World Series.

All seemed well in the Miami Marlins clubhouse Wednesday morning as they prepared for a spring training workout at Roger Dean Stadium. Many players sat at two long tables in the center of the room amiably chatting while eating breakfast; others played ping pong or sat at their lockers talking with teammates.

It is exactly the kind of atmosphere president of baseball operations Michael Hill was hoping to carry over this season while making a series of moves over the winter in the aftermath of ace pitcher Jose Fernandez dying in a boating accident last Sept. 25 at the tender age of 24.

He was the life of the clubhouse with the way he could light up the room, Hill said of the charismatic Fernandez. We all miss Jose terribly and his death is always going to leave a void.

Yet as cruel as it seems, life goes on and the Marlins are proceeding with spring training without Fernandez.

We all know the best way to honor Jose is go out and bust our butts every single day rather than sitting here and feeling sorry for ourselves, Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon said. We know that is what he would want us to do. He was always positive, so were going to stay positive.

(Photo by JCS/Icon Sportswire)

There are plenty of new faces as the Marlins try end their streak of seven consecutive losing seasons after going 79-82 in 2016. In addition to not finishing over .500 since 2009, they have not been to the postseason since winning the 2003 World Series.

Right-hander Edinson Volquez, who is likely to be the Opening Day starter, was the headliner among the winter moves as he was signed to a two-year, $22 million contract as a free agent.

Relievers Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa were also signed as free agents along with left-handed swingman Jeff Locke and backup catcher A.J. Ellis. Right-hander Dan Straily was acquired in a trade from the Cincinnati Reds.

They are all good players who we feel will really help us, Hill said. But this is a case where it was important to match the analytics with what our scouts knew about those players beyond just their performance.

We had a very tight-knit clubhouse before Joses death with a lot of young players who had grown up together in the organization. In the aftermath, we all thought it was vital to make sure that chemistry wasnt disrupted. Its still a fragile time for our team.

The ebullient Volquez wont replace the ultra-talented Fernandez as the staff ace. However, he helped pitch the Kansas City Royals to the World Series title in 2015 before falling to 10-11 with a 5.37 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 34 starts last season.

The Marlins are hoping that reuniting Volquez with vice president of pitching development Jim Benedict will help revitalize the 33-year-old. In 2014 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Volquez got his once-promising career back on track under the tutelage of Benedict, posting a 13-7 record with a 3.04 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 32 games.

Volquez has also endured his share of tragedy in recent years as his father died during the World Series in 2015. In January, his younger brother was stabbed to death in the Dominican Republic and his former Royals rotation mate and countryman Yordano Ventura died in an automobile accident.

I think Edinson can certainly understand what were going through as a team, Hill said. Yet he also has that great smile. He can really light up a room like Jose could. Were not asking him to be Jose by any means but having an upbeat guy like Edinson and what he brings means so much to us under the circumstances.

Originally posted here:
Clubhouse chemistry more important than ever for Marlins - FanRag Sports (blog)