Phillies Series Preview: vs Miami Marlins
By Matt Veasey
The Philadelphia Phillies welcome in the NL East rival Miami Marlins for a four game series at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies showed once again over this past weekend that, though improved over the 2015 version that finished at the bottom of the overall MLB standings, they remain ‘Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players’ as far as being a current contender.
The club entered the weekend series with the New York Mets just six games behind both the Mets and Miami Marlins in the NL Wildcard race. But in dropping two of the three games, they have now fallen seven off the pace, eight back in the loss column.
So now the Marlins come to South Philly for a four-game series. This one could determine whether the Phils fall out of even a remote possibility of contention once and for all, or whether they have another move in them still.
The Marlins are led, as always, by the most feared slugger in the game today, right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, who is fresh off his overwhelming victory in last week’s MLB All-Star Game Home Run Derby (see below video.)
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While Stanton leads the Fish with 20 homers and 52 RBI, he is not their only talented weapon. In fact, Miami boasts one of the best young outfield combos in the game today.
Center fielder Marcell Ozuna is hitting for a .305/.357/.529 slash line with 17 homers, 49 RBI, and a team-high 54 runs scored. Left fielder Christian Yelich sports a .318/.399/.475 slash with 48 RBI and 43 runs scored.
Veteran 3rd baseman Martin Prado is always a thorn in the Phillies side. He is hitting for a team-high .322 average and is 4th on the squad with 39 runs scored. 2nd baseman Derek Dietrich has a nice .295 average and .385 on-base percentage.
Another highlight of late for the Marlins has been the exploits of 42-year old future Baseball Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, who has now crept within a half-dozen hits of 3,000 for his career. Facing Miami in seven of their next 10 games, the Phils could well be a part of history soon.
When manager Don Mattingly calls on his bullpen, it will be 29-year old righty A.J. Ramos closing out the games. He has 29 Saves, has allowed just 25 hits over 38 innings, and has a 49/21 K:BB ratio.
Righties Kyle Barraclough, David Phelps, Dustin McGowan, and Nick Wittgren have done well in the middle and setup roles. Veterans Craig Breslow and Chris Narveson are the main southpaw options for ‘Donnie Baseball’ out of the bullpen.
Next: PITCHING MATCHUPS: MARLINS AT PHILLIES