Current Series
Blue Jays lead the series 1-0
| Fri 06/22 | WP: Ricky Romero (8 - 1) LP: Anibal Sanchez (3 - 6) | 5 - 12 loss |
Toronto Blue Jays Saturday, Jun 23, 2012, 1:10 PM EDT Brett Cecil vs Josh Johnson Partly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing in from right field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 80.
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| Sun 06/24 | 1:10 PM EDT | |
The Miami Marlins are continuing their month-long slump with another game against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. While the good news is that the Fish offense has awoken to a degree, the bad news is that the pitching staff has fallen by the wayside, performing almost as bad as they were good in the first two months of the season. Josh Johnson looks to take the bump and hold down the fort for the Fish.
Pitching Matchup
| Proj Win% | Proj ERA | FIP | ERA | Marlins | Blue Jays | ERA | FIP | Proj ERA | Proj Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .645 | 2.82 | 3.01 | 4.18 | Johnson | Cecil | 3.60 | 6.86 | 5.14 | .377 |
Josh Johnson had come off of two straight starts in which his velocity was at its seasonal peak, averaging 94 mph. But in his last start, he dipped back down into the 92 mph region and his game suffered; he allowed only two runs to the Tampa Bay Rays, but did so on eight hits with only four strikeouts and four walks in six innings. Johnson's velocity is very clearly tied to his performance, as he is superhuman with a 94 moh fastball but merely mortal and solid with the slower heat. The inconsistency of that velocity points to a mechanical concern that may not yet be fixed, and it would behoove pitching coach Randy St. Claire and company to continue working on him to see if such problems persist.
Brett Cecil made a successful return to the majors after missing the earlier part of the season with injury. Cecil went five innings and picked up the win, though he gave up two home runs along with his five strikeouts. Cecil, however, has never been a good starter, with a career 4.63 ERA and 4.72 FIP to his name. Nevertheless, I would not put it past the Marlins to fail to get things going on him after the struggles they have had all season.
Lineup
We'll post the lineup when available.
Notes
- I did a quick Q&A with Tom Dakers of the excellent SB Nation site Bluebird Banter. Inside, I vouch for our stadium, but unfortunately had a hard time vouching for our players this month.
- If you watched the TV cast last night, you would know that Hanley Ramirez has at least been working at the plate to bust out of his slump. It's always good to see the players practicing, and I am sure it will pay dividends one way or another for Ramirez, but this is one of those things that good hitters eventually recover from. Again, I'm not all that concerned about Ramirez.
Bold Prediction: Blue Jays def. Marlins 6-5