Pitchers and Catchers Report — For Playoffs?

Dare to dream? Why not. We do it every spring.

Ah, Spring. That magical time of year when young Miamians' minds turn to...anything but baseball, as per usual, but that doesn't mean it's not happening. Marlins pitchers and catchers will report to the team's training complex this afternoon, getting Spring Training officially underway. 

Hooray! We can practically hear the crack of bats and silence at Sun Life already.

So what should we expect from the Fish this year? They did have a pretty exciting offseason being forced to spend money, and the front office is talking playoffs every chance they get.

Truth is, however, the team may have shelled out a little but they didn't add a single new player guaranteed to reach the starting lineup. After finishing second in the National League East last season with 87 wins, the Fish hope to see enough improvement from their pitching staff to notch the extra W's necessary for a post-season run.

"We need to win an additional five to six games to be considered,'' said president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest. "And we can do it with our pitching. And that's where I think you can pick up those games. We need to level out some of those droughts. Last year was a lot of peaks and valleys.''

You can say that again. Ricky Nolasco was demoted to the minors shortly after starting opening day last season, Chris Volstad slumped hard, and Andrew Miller and Anibal Sanchez were disappointing. Starting pitcher Josh Johnson is expected to have another good year, but it's going to take the guys behind him for the Fish to win six additional games or more.

But if the bullpen can sort themselves out, the Marlins just might -- might -- be onto something. Johnson, Dan Uggla, Nolasco and all-star slugger Hanley Ramirez are entering their fifth seasons with the team, and with any luck all this uncharacteristic retention will pay off. 

This afternoon's 1:30 p.m. workout is free and open to the public at the Roger Dean Stadium complex in Jupiter.

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