The Marlins are set to face off against the Rockies on Saturday night and, once again, Ichiro Suzuki is not in the Miami starting lineup. He is still sitting with 2,998 hits and, as he continues to remain benched during a road trip, there's a growing narrative that the Marlins are not starting him by order of owner Jeffrey Loria so that hit No. 3,000 comes at home.

This is pretty dumb.

Now, it should be said that Loria has made this bed for himself. I get that. The Adam Greenberg story from 2012 is one of several illustrations that Loria will pull off publicity stunts in order to get a better turnout in Marlins Park, and obviously there will be an attendance increase if there is a chance that Ichiro records his 3,000th hit at home.

The rest of the facts don't line up, though.

The Marlins are in a race. They entered Saturday tied for the second NL wild-card spot. They can't afford to massage the lineup in any other way than the way that manager Don Mattingly thinks is best suited to get them a victory.

On that front, look at the Marlins' everyday starting outfield compared to Ichiro.

Marcell Ozuna was the All-Star Game starter for the NL, and it wasn't due to a fan vote. He was an injury replacement, plugged in on merit. Christian Yelich, 24, is a .319/.392/.491 hitter. Giancarlo Stanton is the best raw power hitter in baseball. You think it requires some grand conspiracy to pencil those guys in the lineup on a daily basis?

Yes, Ichiro is overall having a very good season, but he hasn't been a regular at all, starting just 35 of the Marlins' 110 games. He's also 2 for his last 21 (.095) with no walks and five strikeouts and is 42 years old. That's the guy you want in the lineup instead of one of the aforementioned young studs?

Ichiro has been relegated to pinch-hitting duty for much of the season. USATSI

But still, why didn't Ichiro start on Wednesday against John Lackey of the Cubs (a move one Cubs TV person called a bit "fishy")? After all, Ichiro has 37 career hits against Lackey! Well, most of those came 2009 or earlier, and the sample of the last three years (in which Ichiro is 4 for 9) isn't useful at all. Again, I'd rather have had Ozuna, Yelich and Stanton in there myself. The Marlins were in position to win that game until a blown save in the ninth anyway.

The smoking gun here is Ichiro's use during the last homestand. If Loria was so adamant that the 3,000th hit had to happen at home, wouldn't Ichiro have started every single game? It was a 10-game homestand. He started twice. He did not start either of the last two games of the homestand while sitting two hits away from 3,000. It seems to me that would've been a pretty convenient time to push for him to start, no?

Be honest here. There's nothing to see. It's a team trying to win games.

Loria haters masquerading as devil's advocates here might say that this was a tease job in hopes of stretching things out so there are the maximum number of games with fans hoping to see Ichiro collect his 3,000th hit.

If that's how you want to believe things, don't let me stand in the way. All the evidence points to the contrary, however, in that the Marlins are just trying to win games and not making any decisions whatsoever based upon Ichiro's career hit total.