A look at Marlins' April, by the numbers

May 1st, 2021

The first month of the season is over, and the Marlins find themselves at the bottom of the National League East with an 11-14 record. Despite this, they sit just 1 1/2 games back in a highly competitive division.

Since a 1-6 start, Miami is 10-8. Four starting position players are on the injured list, and two projected members of the Opening Day rotation have missed substantial time.

"Not sure you ever expect to play less than .500, but I'm happy really in general with everything that's going on with us, where we're at," manager Don Mattingly said before Friday's series opener. "We had a little 1-6 start. From there, we kind of caught our rhythm and have been fairly consistent since then. We've been a little choppy, I think, up and down offensively. Pitching has been pretty much there the whole time.

"I expect us to really get better and better as the season goes on. I think we'll get more consistent as long as we stay healthy. And I know we've got some guys banged up right now, but we expect guys to be back. If our pitching stays healthy, then we're going to be pretty consistent, I think, all year long."

Below are some numbers that tell the tale of April.

.222 -- winning percentage (2-7) in one-run games. In 2020, the Marlins went 11-8 (.579) in one-run games en route to their first playoff appearance in 17 years. Of Miami's 14 losses this year, half have been by one run and 11 by two runs or fewer.

.646 -- home OPS, which ranks 25th in the Majors. Compare that to a .688 OPS on the road (15th). Miami went 4-7 at loanDepot park and 7-7 away from South Florida in April.

3.09 -- ERA for Marlins starters, which ranks sixth in the Majors. This is despite Miami getting just 2 1/3 combined innings from and top prospect .

7 -- blown saves by Marlins relievers, which is tied for most in the Majors. They have surrendered 13 homers (11th most). The revamped bullpen has settled in after a rough first week to post a 1.08 WHIP (fourth best) and a 3.80 ERA (13th).

7 -- rookie pitchers with at least three wins, 38 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.29 or lower in a month over the past 50 years. joined a list that includes José Fernández, Dwight Gooden, Fernando Valenzuela, Hideo Nomo, Orel Hershiser and Jack Flaherty.

Plus-11 -- run differential, which is best in the division and fourth in the NL

18 -- stolen bases, which is second most in the NL. has an NL-leading seven.

22 -- RBIs for , which paces the NL. The Marlins' most consistent bat in 2020 has picked up where he left off with a strong road trip.

27 -- double plays finished, most in the Majors. In Friday night's loss, Miami turned four to keep the Nationals off the board until the 10th.

39 -- two-out runs with runners in scoring position for the Marlins, tied for third in MLB. Their .866 OPS is best in those situations. This accounts for 37.5 percent of their total runs scored (39 of 104).

247 -- strikeouts for Marlins hitters, which ranks ninth most in MLB.