Those Marlins Rookie Starting Pitchers

So Anibal Sanchez pitched a no-hitter yesterday. It's going to be hard to keep Anibal Sanchez off the radar now. And there hasn't been nearly enough press on just how amazing these rookie starters have been for Florida this year.

(Win Probability Graph by Fangraphs)

Arizona Pitching:
Edgar Gonzalez: 6.0IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 5SO, 2HR - Loss
Tony Pena: 1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO, 0HR
Juan Cruz: 1.0IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 3SO, 0HR

Florida Pitching:
Anibal Sanchez: 9.0IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 4BB, 6SO, 0HR - Win

Florida goes to 70-69 on this game. They were once 20 games under .500 earlier this year and now have a realistic shot at that Wild Card berth. And even though I'm pulling for Philladelphia to pull this one off it would be hard to be upset to see these Fish swim all the way up stream on performances like this.

After the full fire sale over the last season I looked at the Marlins and this cast of unknowns and expected to see Dontrelle Willis as the only bright light in that starting rotation. Well, the D-Train is a bit off of his Cy Young caliber numbers from last year and these rookies are impressive:

Josh Johnson. With a 2.99 ERA this season - that's third best in the majors! I'm surpirsed he isn't the one to pull off the no-hitter this year.
Scott Olsen. With 12 wins on 26 starts I've actually bumped Barry Zito off my fantasy roster to carry this guy full-time.
Ricky Nolasco. Another double-digit win rookie starter. With young lions like these in the rotation this team is a viable threat should they make the playoffs.