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Sunday, July 21st, 2013

Jose Fernandez has a 0.60 HR/9 in 2013, which is first among all qualified rookie starters.

Sam Evans ( Baseball Writer and Marlins, Mariners Correspondent): Follow @RJA206

Believe it or not, the Marlins are going to be one of, if not the most interesting rebuilding team in the Majors during the second half of the 2013 regular season.

From the performances of their inconsistent young pitchers (Jacob Turner and Nate Eovaldi) to the record shattering rookie season of their young ace Jose Fernandez, this Marlins team truly has it all.

The Marlins could potentially make a franchise altering trade before the deadline or stand pat and surprise some possible trade suitors.

With the young, talented outfielders that are in the Majors or on the way, the Marlins seem destined to score more runs in the second half of the season and overall play much better baseball.

Here are the top five storylines to watch on this Marlins team in the second half of the 2013 regular season. 

Jacob Turner Prospect Video, Miami Marlins

The Marlins seem self assured that Giancarlo Stanton will still be a Marlin in August of 2013.

1. Can Jose Fernandez and Jacob Turner keep it up?

Jose Fernandez and Jacob Turner are two big reasons to follow the Marlins in 2013. Fernandez, 20, will continue his quest to be named the 2013 National League Rookie of the Year.

Meanwhile, Turner, 22, will attempt to live up to the expectations that were set for him back when Detroit drafted him 9^th overall in the 2009 draft.

Another interesting thing to watch regarding Fernandez will be how much the Marlins limit him. Manager Mike Redmond has said that they want to cut him off at about 170 innings, which sounds reasonable considering this is his rookie season.

Fernandez and Turner are both bright young spots in the Marlins starting rotation, and it will be fascinating to see how much both of them shine in the second half. 

2 .What to expect from Nate Eovaldi?

If you’ve watched one of his starts this season, it probably wouldn’t surprise you that Nate Eovaldi throws the fastest average fastball of any starter in the Majors (96.0 MPH).

However, to the majority of the baseball world, Eovaldi has been a pitcher that has flown under the radar ever since returning from his injury this season. Currently sporting a 2.93 ERA in just five starts, Eovaldi seems to have returned to the pitcher he was before his shoulder issues.

In the second half, it will be very interesting to see how Eovaldi performs. He’ll be surrounded with questions about his health and how he will be able to perform when teams start facing him the second time around.

Overall, Nate Eovaldi has got to be one of the more intriguing pitchers on the Marlins roster heading into the second half.

3. Big move at the deadline?

Despite all the Marlins front office has said claiming that they aren’t planning on making a big move at the deadline, it still seems very, very possible that Miami ships out one of it’s superstars.

Whether they decide to make the humongous move and trade Giancarlo Stanton, or they make a lesser move and trade a player like Justin Ruggiano, it will be fascinating to see what moves they make at the deadline.

What’s amazing is, the Marlins could be the most influential team at the trade deadline without making a single move.

4. How will the young outfielders perform when/if given playing time?

Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, and Jake Marisnick could be the Marlins starting outfield if Stanton and Ruggiano are traded at the deadline. Even if those two are still around come August, Yelich and Marisnick should still both be up in Miami by the end of the season.

For a player with as much hype as Yelich to make his debut in a Marlins uniform would be huge and should boost attendance. Marisnick has been somewhat overlooked, but by all accounts does he appear to be Miami’s center fielder of the future.

Ozuna has been impressive but inconsistent in his limited time in the Majors this season. To see how these three play into the Marlins puzzle of outfielders over the course of the remainder of the 2013 season should be incredibly interesting.

5. Can the Marlins score more runs?

The Marlins are currently ranked last in the Majors in hits, doubles, runs scored, and home runs. Obviously, having Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison back in the lineup everyday should greatly improve those numbers, but the Marlins will need more contributions from the other players on their roster to score more.

In particular, Adeiny Hechavarria and Derek Dietrich need to step it up in the second half in order for the Marlins to give their pitchers more of the run support they deserve.

It’s insane to expect the Marlins to all of a sudden morph into the run-producing lineup they are capable of, but to envisage the Marlins scoring runs at closer to the league-average seems very reasonable.

Nate Eovaldi leads MLB starting pitchers with an average 96.0 MPH fastball.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

A big thank-you goes out to our ‘Marlins and Mariners Correspondent’ Sam Evans for preparing today’s featured article. Sam is a high school student from the Seattle area.  He is a longtime Mariners fan, and has been an off-and-on season ticket holder for the last five years.

 Sam enjoys interacting with readers and digging beneath the surface to find the truth in baseball.  Sam was our 2nd Intern who has graduated to the position of  Baseball Writer. For all of Sam’s archived articles- click here.

You can follow Sam on Twitter: Sam Also writes for the Marlins website Fish Stripes.Follow @RJA206

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