The Miami Marlins entered the 2015 season with very high expectations after an offseason filled with activity. The contract extension of Giancarlo Stanton, along with the acquisitions of Dee Gordon, Michael Morse and Mat Latos, brought an air of legitimacy that made them a media darling as a team with serious playoff potential.

A slow start, however, has frustrated Marlins fans. Those fans, according to Luke Weil, need to exhibit patience while recognizing that there is a lot that can happen during a 162-game season. Weil believes that all of the new players simply need some time to jell and to find a team identity that will unify them. This, Weil says, will take some time at first, but will ultimately enable them to enjoy the success that so many have expected of them.

Weil points to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a perfect example of why patience should be given to this Miami Marlins team. A disappointment that was barely over .500 in the early part of the NBA season, it took some time for LeBron James and Kevin Love to adjust to a new team and a new system. Now that they have been together for a while, the Cavaliers looked poised to a win a championship.

Stanton may not be a talent on the level of James, but he is undeniably close. Gordon is a dynamic and disruptive presence on the basepaths who can change the game with his speed, and rumor has it that ace pitcher Jose Fernandez may be able to return from Tommy John surgery as early as June.