Early reviews mixed for Suns

The first-half assessment of the Jacksonville Suns shows a thumbs-up for the new relationship with the Florida Marlins but a thumbs-down for the Suns' performance on the Baseball field. That was the consensus among Suns and Marlins officials after Jacksonville finished the first half of the Southern League season at 35-35. The Suns started strong (winning eight of 10) and finished strong (winning seven of 10). But between the hot start and finish, the Suns went 20-30. Away from the field, the outcome was much more positive. The Suns signed a two-year agreement with Florida after the 2008 season to serve as the Marlins' Double-A affiliate. The Suns, owned by Peter Bragan Sr., wife Mary and son Peter Bragan Jr., had been affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the previous eight years. "The relationship with the Suns has been great," said Jim Fleming, the Marlins' vice president of player development and scouting and assistant general manager. "Jacksonville is close to us [in Miami], which was a huge perk to this [agreement]. They've treated us great. It's been a good experience for our players, staff, all our rovers that have come through here. There's been nothing but good things said about the way we've been received here." Fleming wasn't as upbeat when evaluating the team's performance. "We probably didn't meet the players' or organization's expectations, but for some good reasons," Fleming said. "You look at injuries, lots of player movement, loss of some key players. When you take all that into consideration, we're happy with what's gone on and how things have transpired. We're hoping that the team can get better health in the second half." The Suns lost arguably their best player when first baseman Logan Morrison fractured a thumb in the second game and missed all but a handful of games in the rest of the first half. The Marlins' pitching staff had a number of injuries and rough outings. With an injury-decimated pitching rotation at Triple-A as well, the Marlins turned to the Suns' pitchers early and often, ready or not. "We don't mind pulling a guy out of Double-A, but pulling him up the first month of the season is not something you really want to do," Fleming said. "The pitcher's really not prepared. It was really tough when we did that to Graham [Taylor] and [Cristhian] Martinez, but circumstances with the Marlins dictated that we had to do it." One of the main reasons the Suns decided to end their relationship with the Dodgers was because Los Angeles relocated its spring-training site to Arizona. In addition, with its Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, N.M., and the Class-A team in San Bernardino, Calif., there was little chance the Dodgers would send anyone to Jacksonville for rehabilitation purposes. That's already happened once this season for the Suns, when the Marlins sent touted pitcher Andrew Miller to Jacksonville for a rehab start. More of that could take place in the second half, and that's part of what makes for a successful relationship between a parent club and its minor-league affiliates, Suns president Peter Bragan Jr. said. "I think this team has a chance to make a run in the second half," Bragan said. "The Marlins have a bunch of good young ballplayers at some lower levels that we'll see in the next year and thereafter. "Away from the field, the staff and players have been great to work with. And we know the Marlins are never going to move their spring training to Arizona. They'll always be in Florida like we are, and I couldn't be more pleased with that. They sent a number of our players directly up to the major leagues, and the nice thing is, they've sent most of them back. It's good for our fans to see some of these guys on TV playing in the major leagues one day and several days later be playing for the Jacksonville Suns." Suns manager Brandon Hyde, in his first season at Jacksonville, likes what he sees ahead for the team. "Our pitching is real good right now. "We just need to catch the ball better defensively and have better at-bats," Hyde said. "I feel those days will come. We're a dangerous club. Once we get guys going offensively, I'm hoping it becomes somewhat contagious. ... We can be a contender in the second half." jeff.elliott@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4292 HOW SUNS MANAGER BRANDON HYDE SEES IT STARTING PITCHING "Three starters went to the big leagues, so that shakes up your rotation. The new guys that have come in here have done a real good job. Our team ERA for the first half is under 4.00, and that's excellent. " BULLPEN "Again, a lot of movement of guys coming on and leaving our roster. ... Right now, our bullpen is the strength of our pitching." INFIELD "We're still improving in our infield defense. We've made some strides, but we need to get better. ... We need to do a better job of turning double plays and making plays for our pitchers to get out of innings." CATCHING "Give [Brad] Davis or [Chris] Hatcher a chance to throw out runners, and most of the time, they will." OUTFIELD "The speed in the outfield is exceptional. It's hard to beat. All four of the guys have good arms and have thrown out runners on the bases." HITTING "I think we can swing the bat a lot better than we did the first half. A lot of our guys aren't hitting like they have in their careers." OVERALL "We need to run the bases better, play better team defense and put the ball in play with two strikes. If we do those things, with the way our pitching is, we'll have a good club in the second half."