Current Series
Braves lead the series 1-0
| Mon 07/30 | WP: Tommy Hanson (12 - 5) LP: Mark Buehrle (9 - 10) | 2 - 8 loss |
Miami Marlins Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012, 7:10 PM EDT Ricky Nolasco vs Kris Medlen Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to center field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85.
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| Wed 08/01 | 7:10 PM EDT | |
| Thu 08/02 | 7:10 PM EDT | |
The Miami Marlins made two relatively innocuous, but good trades this afternoon, but amid the light chatter about those deals, there is actually a game to be played tonight. The Fish will once again visit the Atlanta Braves for the second game of their four-game set, and the team will come with the majority of their lineup intact. It is admittedly a terrible, terrible lineup, but it's intact!
Pitching Matchup
| Proj Win% | Proj ERA | FIP | ERA | Marlins | Padres | ERA | FIP | Proj ERA | Proj Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .440 | 4.50 | 4.23 | 4.80 | Nolasco | Medlen | 2.48 | 2.71 | 3.60 | .543 |
Remember when Ricky Nolasco was a good pitcher? It seems like such a long time ago. Yet in the last three season in which we were clamoring for Nolasco to somehow improve his odds of doing well with runners on, it turned out the Marlins changed something about him that made him worse in general. Whereas before there was once hope that Nolasco's peripherals and strikeout rate would shine through, now there is no such hope. And while we have occasionally caught a glimpse of the old Nolasco (seven strikeouts and just one walk against Pittsburgh, albeit with two homers allowed), it seems that guy will never come back, and even then he never proved to be great either.
Kris Medlen will take the mound for Atlanta and he may get a couple of starts along the way as the team considers resting last night's winning pitcher Tommy Hanson. Medlen looked like he was destined for the Braves' rotation two years ago until Tommy John surgery derailed his 2011. Now he is back working primarily out of the pen, but he has a chance now to impress and earn a rotation spot among the shaky back end of the Braves' starting five.
Lineup
| Order | Player | Proj wOBA vs. RHP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emilio Bonifacio | .307 |
| 2 | Donnie Murphy | .287 |
| 3 | Jose Reyes | .349 |
| 4 | Carlos Lee | .322 |
| 5 | Justin Ruggiano | .326 |
| 6 | Greg Dobbs | .290 |
| 7 | John Buck | .293 |
| 8 | Bryan Petersen | .314 |
This lineup is so bad, I don't even know what to say about it. For goodness sake, the Marlins are starting Greg Dobbs in left field. The Fish cannot wait to get Giancarlo Stanton back by August 10.
Bold Prediction: Braves def. Marlins 6-1