After a long road trip that saw the Miami Marlins play in three different cities, they are coming home to South Florida. Miami played three series’ against the Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the San Diego Padres. In total, the Marlins went 4-5 on the nine game road trip.
Tonight, the Marlins will begin a 10-game home stand, as they will take on the Colorado Rockies in the first game of a three game weekend series tonight at Marlins Park. Colorado enters this series as the hottest team in baseball, as they are 8-2 in their last ten games, which is tied with the Washington Nationals and Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rockies (32-33), are currently third in the NL West, as they trail San Francisco and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division. Colorado is entering its first full series without shortstop Jose Reyes on the roster. The team designated Reyes for assignment on Wednesday, as now rookie sensation Trevor Story has the shortstop position all to himself. Story is second in the NL All-Star ballot for shortstops.
Story’s 17 homers are the most by a rookie shortstop at this portion of the season since the All-Star game was first played in 1933. Story is hitting .257 with 45 RBIS, and a .877 OPS. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado is hitting .290 this season, with 20 home runs, and 57 RBIS, as he is second in All-Star voting at his position. Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki made unofficial history on Wednesday, passing Pete Rose for most hits as a professional with 4,257 hits in the MLB and in Japan. Ichiro is 21 hits away from joining the 3,000 hit club.
Giancarlo Stanton has been in a massive hitting slump, as he has just one homer and five RBIS in his past 20 games. He is batting just .193 with 12 homers and 29 RBIS. Adam Conley will be on the mound for the Marlins tonight. He is 3-4 this year with 67 strikeouts and a 1.45 WHIP. Opposing him will be Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray, who is 4-2 this year with 68 strikeouts and a 1.17 WHIP.
Prediction: Marlins defeat Rockies, 4-2
| Team | Starter | ERA | FIP | 2016 ZIPS Projected ERA |
| COL | Jon Gray | 4.70 | 3.39 | 4.40 |
| MIA | Adam Conley | 4.13 | 3.80 | 3.98 |