The Miami Marlins suffered a 5-2 defeat at he hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, despite the fact that the offense surprisingly got to Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw a couple of times during the game. The Fish were unable to deliver timely hits, while the Dodgers capitalized on the opportunities given to them by Mark Buehrle, who had a bounceback game.
The Marlins will try this again tonight, this time against a more familiar foe in former Philadelphia Phillies righty Joe Blanton. The Marlins will counter with the struggling Ricky Nolasco.
Pitching Matchup
Proj Win% | Proj ERA | FIP | ERA | Marlins | Dodgers | ERA | FIP | Proj ERA | Proj Win% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.448 | 4.42 | 4.29 | 4.95 | Nolasco | Blanton | 4.52 | 4.02 | 4.29 | .462 |
The Marlins send out Nolasco again, and at this point it is hard for Marlins fans to see any upside in his performance. Unlike his last few seasons, during which his peripherals provided hope for better future performance, this year has been a catastrophe all around for Nolasco, with his home runs back up to career norms and his strikeouts down to career lows. This is the worst non-injury year for Nolasco since his rookie campaign, and there does not seem to be any hope of a comeback; even in Nolasco's starts since June, he still only has a 17.8 percent strikeout rate versus a 7.1 percent walk rate, both significantly worse than previous seasons, along with a 5.31 ERA.
Blanton has had home run issues all season, but otherwise he has been Nolasco-lite for this season and indeed much of the last three years. Blanton is now in LA, but the Marlins have had success against him this season, putting up five runs on nine hits with two homers against him in Philadelphia earlier in June. Of course, the two homers were by Hanley Ramirez, so...
Lineup
Order | Player | Proj wOBA vs. RHP |
---|---|---|
1 | Gorkys Hernandez | --- |
2 | Justin Ruggiano | .327 |
3 | Jose Reyes | .350 |
4 | Carlos Lee | .325 |
5 | Giancarlo Stanton | .377 |
6 | Greg Dobbs | .290 |
7 | Nick Green | --- |
8 | John Buck | .279 |
Jose Reyes is back in the lineup after missing yesterday night's game with a rare rest day against the lefty Kershaw. In the game thread, there was much discussion regarding Reyes's availability, especially since manager Ozzie Guillen did not pinch-hit him in a critical situation in sixth inning of the game. Reyes never saw the field, so it was likely that Guillen simply decided he was not available for the game.
Bold Prediction: Dodgers def. Marlins 5-3