The Miami Marlins on Tuesday fell to their in-state rivals the Rays by a score of 4-0 (box score). That brings us to the following #MarlinsFact:
The Marlins have been shut out in 20 percent of their games this season.
— Dayn Perry (@daynperry) May 15, 2019
Here's another Marlins fact: They're now 10-30 on the season. That makes for a .250 winning percentage, and that means the 2019 Marlins are now on pace for a record of 41-121 (!). If that dismal trend somehow holds, then those 121 losses would be the most in a season in modern baseball history. The expansion 1962 Mets lost 120, and they currently hold the post-1900 record. To find more you must go all the way back to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134 and their owners shipped their best players off to the other team they owned, the St. Louis Browns.
In terms of post-1900 baseball, the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics had the lowest winning percentage of .235, but because they played a 154-game schedule they didn't rack up the most losses (they went 36-117). The Marlins aren't presently "besting" that mark, but in terms of walking off the field in defeat the most times in a season, they're on their way. Oh, and it's not a matter of mere bad luck:
The Marlins, now through 40 games, are on pace for a -385 run differential. The worst mark since 1900 currently belongs to the 1932 Boston Red Sox, at -345.
— R.J. Anderson (@r_j_anderson) May 15, 2019
And they've done that while ranking just 21st in strength of schedule.
None of this is all that surprising. The Marlins by, oh, August will ensure their 10th straight losing season, and in recent months they've traded away their star players in exchange for thoroughly disappointing returns. Sure, we're just a quarter of the way through the season, and in that sense it's premature to be talking about full-year paces. The 2019 Marlins, though, really are this bad, and they're likely going to wind up as one of the worst teams in history. The current standings say they're well on their way.
