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After being unceremoniously swept at home by the supposedly rebuilding Braves, the Marlins look to rebound in their second series, this time against their "natural rivals," the former Devil Rays of Tampa. The Rays went 0-2 themselves before getting off the schneid with a 2-0 shut out victory over the Orioles Wednesday night.
Pitching Matchup
| PROJ ERA | FIP | ERA | MARLINS | RAYS | ERA | FIP | PROJ ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.75 | --- | --- | Haren | Geltz | --- | --- | 2.87 |
The Rays will ask Steve Geltz to step out of the bullpen for the first start of his career, hoping to get some relief for their beleaguered, injury plagued starting rotation. The right handed Geltz will likely be asked to only pitch 3-4 innings tops as he's only logged 12.2 innings total between parts of three seasons with the Angels and Rays.
Starting for the Marlins will be the veteran Dan Haren. Despite threatening to retire if traded away from Los Angeles during the off-season, the right hander opted to pitch for the Fish once he spent some time in Jupiter with the promising young squad around him. The Marlins hope he can provide some quality back-end depth for the rotation, at least until Jose Fernandez returns.
Familiar faces up and down the starting line-up. Saltalamacchia is back in at catcher after taking a breather on Wednesday.
Notes
-Since the Rays came into existence in 1998, the Marlins have played them 93 times and gone 47-46, including 4-0 last season.
-Fun Fact #2: Both Florida clubs are managed by former career back-up catchers. This fact made more fun depending on the amount you like back-up catchers.
-Will the real Miami offense please stand up? With Tampa's pen penciled in as the starter, we should finally see the production envisioned in the off-season.
Bold Prediction: Marlins beat Rays 8-3