May 13-15: Brewers vs. Marlins Series Preview

With a big win on Wednesday, the Miami Marlins avoided a season sweep against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They return home to Miami for games against the Brewers, Nationals, and Braves. Coming into Friday, the Marlins sit at 14-17. They’ll face a tough opponent this weekend when the Milwaukee Brewers come to town. They sit atop the NL Central at 20-12.

I’ll cover the usual stuff in this series preview:

• Schedule, Watch, Listen
• Probable Pitchers
• Recent Lineups
• What To Watch For
• Poll: How Will This Series Play Out?

Schedule, Watch, Listen

Friday, May 13 at 6:40 pm

Saturday, May 14 at 6:10 pm

Sunday, May 15 at 1:40 pm

• TV broadcast for all 3 games: Bally Sports Sun for Friday’s game; Bally Sports Florida on Saturday and Sunday (Paul Severino and Gaby Sanchez)
• Radio broadcast for all 3 games: 940 AM WINZ, WAQI 710 (Glenn Geffner and J.P. Arencibia)

Grid View

• Corbin Burnes, Brewers’ starting pitcher on Friday Photo by Michael McLoone/USA TODAY Sports
• Pablo López, Marlins’ starting pitcher on Friday Photo by Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports
• Eric Lauer, Brewers’ starting pitcher on Saturday Photo by Dale Zanine/USA TODAY Sports
• Trevor Rogers, Marlins’ starting pitcher on Saturday Photo by Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports
• Brandon Woodruff, Brewers’ starting pitcher on Sunday Photo by David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports
• Elieser Hernandez, Marlins’ starting pitcher on Sunday Photo by Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

Probable Pitchers

Friday: RHP Corbin Burnes vs. RHP Pablo López

• Burnes: 1.86 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 34.3 K%, 26.4 HardContact% in 38.2 IP
• López: 1.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 25.6 K%, 21.9 HardContact% in 36.0 IP

Saturday: LHP Eric Lauer vs. LHP Trevor Rogers

• Lauer: 1.82 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 36.2 K%, 22.4 HardContact% in 29.2 IP
• Rogers: 5.00 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 17.7 K%, 22.7 HardContact% in 27.0 IP

Sunday: RHP Brandon Woodruff vs. RHP Elieser Hernandez

• Woodruff: 5.97 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 29.4 K%, 26.4 HardContact% in 28.2 IP
• Hernandez: 6.37 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 21.1 K%, 23.3 HardContact% in 29.2 IP

Projected Lineups

Roster Resource / FanGraphs

Roster Resource / FanGraphs

What to watch for on...

Friday: 2021 NL Cy Young winner.

• Corbin Burnes’ 2021 was magnificent: 2.43 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 12.6 K/9 on 28 starts.
• Of the three probable pitchers for the Brewers this weekend, Marlins hitters have had the most success against the reigning Cy Young winner. Jacob Stallings in 4-for-12 against Burnes, Garrett Cooper is 2-for-4, and Jesús Aguilar and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are both 2-for-3.

Saturday: Old friend Christian Yelich.

• Yelich’s 320 games at Marlins Park: .281/.364/.399 with 66 doubles, 11 triples, 18 home runs.
• After two less than stellar seasons in 2020 and 2021, Yelich looks to be back to his dominant self. He’s hitting the ball hard (55.3% hard hit rate is in the 98th percentile) and making high-quality contact that has continued to be productive even though offense is down league-wide.

Sunday: Which Brandon Woodruff shows up?

• Over the last few seasons, Woodruff has shown that he deserves the respect Burnes and other top starting pitchers get. In 30 starts last season, he held a 2.56 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 10.6 K/9.
• He hasn’t looked like that same pitcher this season though. His ERA is pushing 6.00 thanks to a ton of barrelled and hard hit balls, and his walk rate is higher than ever. When playing against a team like Milwaukee, the Marlins can’t afford to not capitalize on opponent’s mistakes. If Woodruff isn’t sharp, the Marlins have a chance to do damage and pick up a win against a top team.