Mid Series Six-Pack: “Winning would destroy the morale for sure.”

It’s been a pretty crazy couple of days for the the Phillies, with the frantic, exhilarating wins and the slow, dreadful losses.

Ehsan Kassim of Marlin Maniac is back to document some answers for this latest Phillies-Marlins series, as the Phils try to figure out what kind of team they are, and how bad that team is going to be.  Check out my answers on his site if you really want a faceful of text.

I see the Marlins promoted a guy named “Duane Below.” Is he the main character in a Rob Schneider movie about a fish reproduction expert?

Seems to me he is. The Marlins claimed him off of waivers from the Tigers and Tigers pitchers (see Andrew Miller) never seem to do well for us. So this should be pretty interesting.

May 12, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez (16) in the dugout during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Dodgers won 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

What’s that X factor it takes for the Marlins to push through and finally pull off a win every 6-7 games?

I believe that has to be the fact that the other teams don’t feel like playing that particular day. I don’t think the Marlins are winning as much as other people are letting them. I guess the other x-factor has to be that Jose Fernandez is pretty damn good.

How exciting are the prospects the Marlins are close to bringing up, and do they offer any sort of counter balance to the immeasurable weight of despair?

I believe the only prospect that is close right now would be Christian Yelich. Let me put it this way on the promotion of Yelich, our left fielder right now is Juan Pierre.

Don’t think I need to explain that anymore, especially if Yelich can hit like Marcell Ozuna and Derek Dietrich have upon their promotions, the rest of the season does look brighter for the Marlins. This especially when you consider that Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton return soon to the Marlins lineup.

Jeffrey Loria recently went to a Marlins game and no one noticed. Is hating him the only thing fans can really do?

I hate Loria, but not everything that happened has been his fault. He did not injure the Marlins players. But I am done talking about him, he deserves no mention or recognition.

Mar 12, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Bud Norris (20) throws to Miami Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria (3) during a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Is there any chance of a rivalry surfacing between the Marlins as Astros as a sort of “best of two horrible situations” thing? Would improve or destroy fan morale in either camp?

Winning would destroy the morale for sure. I mean, clearly the best path to become a contender is to tank all your games for a few seasons, get a Bryce Harper and a Stephen Strasburg, and BAM! You’re a contending team now. Oh never mind, you have to spend money on current players for that to happen. Scratch that plan.

Bullpens are hard. The Marlins recently let Jon Rauch go for being bad at his job. What is keeping somebody like Chad Durbin in the Phillies bullpen, despite a similar situation mired in craptacularness?

Grit and determination. He obviously works so hard and is a great clubhouse presence, much more valuable than a reliever that gets batters out. Maybe he has some pictures of Amaro and Manuel from the Christmas Party?