Series Preview: Miami Marlins at San Diego Padres

The Marlins (32-31) continue their tour against some of the worst teams in baseball, so naturally, we should be very concerned as they start things off against the Padres (26-38) today.

Despite the records coming in, with the way Miami has been playing as of late it doesn't seem to matter much how bad the Padres have been. What will decide this series is whether or not the Marlins are capable of playing up to their true talent level. If they do, they should fare well. If they don't, we'll have another team to add to the growing list of seemingly inferior squads making the Marlins look foolish.

Opponent snapshot

Hot Padres Hitters (last seven days, minimum ten PA)

Wil Myers - .429/.500/1.048

Alexi Amarista - .300/.364/.300

Cold Padres Hitters (last seven days, minimum ten PA)

Brett Wallace - .200/.294/.467

Jon Jay - .192/.222/.269

Yangervis Solarte - .143/.294/.357

Probable Pitching Match-ups

• Monday June 13th 10:10 pm ET: Wei-Yin Chen vs. Colin Rea
• Tuesday June 14th 10:10 pm ET: Tom Koehler vs. Drew Pomeranz
• Wednesday June 15th 3:40 pm ET: Justin Nicolino vs. ???

Old Friends

Former Marlins: Brad Hand ('11-'15)

View From The Opposite Side

We now welcome in Gaslamp Ball staff writer darklighter to answer some questions about the Padres.

Q: Are the Padres meeting, beating, or defeating the expectations you had for them coming into the 2016 season?

darklighter: Only the most deluded Padres fan was expecting a successful team this year, but it’s been even worse than we prepared for. Their historically futile opening series against the Dodgers was probably the lowest point in the team’s last decade, and that includes a draft where they had the first pick and took Matt Bush over Justin Verlander. There’s been a few runs of series wins that have been encouraging here and there, but the team is definitely failing to clear an already low bar.

Q: What has been the high point of the Padres season thus far? Low point?

darklighter: The high point has to be May 21st’s walkoff win against the Dodgers. The night after Melvin Upton hit a walkoff homer in their series opener, the team found themselves tied in the bottom of the ninth with a runner on first and two outs. And then Chin-hui Tsao walked three batters in a row to end the game and hand the Friars their second consecutive walkoff win. It was just so beautiful.

You’d think the low point would be the aforementioned disastrous scoreless streak against the Dodgers, but the team managed to find something even worse to do. The Padres blew a ten run lead against the Mariners a week and a half ago. They took an insurmountable lead and threw it away, with the Mariners not just coming back for the win, but doing it in part by hitting seven straight two-out singles.

Q: Tell us about a Padres player who has been important to the team so far this season who might be flying under the radar to non-Friars fans?

darklighter: Christian Friedrich has shown some serious promise in San Diego. The Marlins will miss him, as he spent Sunday throwing six innings against the Rockies, where he allowed two hits and three walks while striking out nine and lowering his ERA to 2.12. Did I mention they were at Coors Field? In the afternoon? The Friars have had a rough time getting a consistent starting rotation together this year, but the 28-year-old free agent signing is working out pretty well so far.

Q: The Padres appear to be sellers...who's on the block, and what's the anticipated return?

darklighter: Everything is for sale, if the price is right. The Padres need some impact talent in their farm system, and just about everybody on the major league roster should be up for grabs. A.J. Preller has already moved James Shields, and rumor has it they’d like to dump some of Matt Kemp’s salary, too. If there’s one player that’s safe, it’ll be Wil Myers, but I suspect even he’s movable if someone is going to offer the best of their farm for him.

Q: Steal a Marlin - If you could take one player, coach or member of the Marlins organization, who would you take and why?

darklighter: I’ll be honest, I had to check Baseball Reference to remember who was on the Marlins not named Giancarlo Stanton. And I’d take Ichiro. That’s not in any way the smart move, but he’s Ichiro! I just want to see that man play.

Q: Bonus question - Would you take Mat Latos back?

darklighter: In a heartbeat. I don’t think it’s the best move for the team, but I was a big fan of Mat. To this day, his one-hit shutout of the Giants on May 13, 2010 is the greatest performance by a Padres pitcher I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in person, and his continued trolling of the Giants and their fans has forever endeared him to me.

Thanks again to darklighter for his time and check out Gaslamp Ball for more great San Diego Padres coverage!

Bold Series Prediction: Marlins take two of three, regain road mojo just in time to come back home.

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