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Having already won their first series of the year, the Miami Marlins will look for their first sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon against the San Diego Padres. Nathan Eovaldi will seek to build off of a strong first start against the Colorado Rockies and follow another solid outing by Jose Fernandez.
Pitching Matchup
| PROJ ERA | FIP | ERA | MARLINS | Padres | ERA | FIP | PROJ ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.10 | 1.68 | 3.00 | Eovaldi | Kennedy | 5.40 | 4.78 | 3.49 |
Nathan Eovaldi was effective in his first start of the year, and after a six inning performance, may see an extra inning or two if he has command of all pitches because early pitch counts will not be as closely monitored. Against Colorado, he only gave up two runs and struck out six. Facing a Padres lineup that has struggled to score runs throughout the series, Eovaldi will fare well if he utilizes all of his pitches and gets away from overusing his fastball.
Ian Kennedy went five innings and gave up three runs in his last start against the Dodgers.
Lineups
| PROJ WOBA | WOBA | MARLINS | Padres | WOBA | PROJ WOBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .273 | .427 | Adeiny Hechavarria | Everth Cabrera | .324 | .295 |
| .328 | .233 | Christian Yelich | Seth Smith | .411 | .339 |
| .382 | .495 | Giancarlo Stanton | Chase Headley | .125 | .330 |
| .321 | .279 | Garrett Jones | Jedd Gyorko | .160 | .330 |
| .309 | .534 | Casey McGehee | Yonder Alonso | .219 | .336 |
| .320 | .329 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | Will Venable | .189 | .316 |
| .304 | .580 | Derek Dietrich | Tommy Medica | .228 | .319 |
| .318 | .414 | Marcell Ozuna | Yasmani Grandal | .529 | .330 |
Miami's offense has been productive early, and because the Marlins are facing another right-handed pitcher in Kennedy on Sunday, Manager Mike Redmond didn't adjust his lineup. Adeiny Hechavarria has been thriving in the leadoff spot, and Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee have been protecting Giancarlo Stanton well early on.
An interesting stat from Tom D'Angelo of the Palm Beach Post:
The #Marlins have scored 40 runs in 6 games. Last year they scored their 40th run in their 19th game.
— Tom D'Angelo (@tomdangelo44) April 6, 2014
Scoring runs hasn't been a challenge early on, and a true assessment of the offense will come on the roadtrip, during which the Marlins will face a solid Nationals rotation.
Notes
-How does Eovaldi pitch his second time out? Nathan Eovaldi has one of the best arms, velocity wise, of the Marlins' entire pitching staff. If he mixes up his pitches well, he should be successful against San Diego.
-A 6-1 homestand is a possibility with a win this afternoon. Miami struggled at home last season, but regardless of the crowd size, is taking advantage of the gaps of Marlins Park.
Bold Prediction: Marlins def. Padres 7-2