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Florida Marlins (11-6, 2nd in the NL East)
2010 Record vs. Colorado: 4-3
Last Series vs. Rockies: July 19-22, 2010 (W 3-1 at Joe Robbie Stadium Pro Player Park Dolphin Stadium Dolphins Stadium Land Shark Stadium Sun Life Stadium)
Despite being outscored 39-26, the Marlins were able to fend off the Rockies in 2010 on their way to taking the season series. The best game of the year between the two teams took place on July 19th in Miami, which saw the Fish blow a 7-4 lead in the eighth inning as Ian Stewart (solo) and especially Jonathan Herrera (three-run) provided rare road magic in the form of home runs. However, the Marlins would match Herrera's unlikely magic with some of their own, as utility infielder Donnie Murphy victimized Huston Street for a walk-off home run. The Rockies followed that up with a 10-0 victory (their second and final win on an ugly eastern road trip), but the Fish were able to bounce back and take the final two games of the series behind strong pitching from Ricky Nolasco (8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 8 K) and Josh Johnson (6.1 IP, 5 H, R, 11 K). Offensively, the Rockies held Florida's star shortstop Hanley Ramirez relatively in-check, but were taken to the cleaners by Gaby Sanchez and Mike Stanton, each of whom had four hits and a big three-run homer in the series.
Latest Series Results: Split 1-1 at Philadelphia, W 3-0 vs. Pittsburgh
The Marlins have won 6 of 7 overall, despite recently losing Logan Morrison (1.060 OPS, .452 wOBA, 179 wRC+) for 2 to 4 weeks and a very sluggish start by Ramirez (who is by far their best player overall). Morrison's absence has been covered nicely by Emilio Bonifacio (six for his last nine at the plate) and Scott Cousins, who hit his first big league homer yesterday in the form of a grand slam. Plus, their greatest strength - the starting rotation - is never anything to sneeze at (although Javier Vazquez and Chris Volstad have been roughed up a bit lately).
Arguably the biggest thing to watch, though, is how the Rockies fare against a Florida bullpen that is almost entirely made up of former San Diego Padres. As good as Ryan Webb, Edward Mujica, and Clay Hensley have been throughout their careers (each guy has an ERA+ well north of 100), the Rockies have always seemed to have their number (each allowing a tOPS+ of greather than 100) - and, being that they're relievers, a lot of the damage has seemingly been done in high-leverage situations.
See what the Marlins' SBN community, Fish Stripes, has to say about the upcoming series.
Pitching matchups and other pertinent information after the jump...
Friday through Sunday: 3-game series at Sun Life Stadium
Expected Pitching Matchups
Friday, April 22, 2011 @ 5:10 PM MT
Saturday, April 23, 2011 @ 5:10 PM MT
Sunday, April 24, 2011 @ 11:10 AM MT
Expected Lineup
| Player | Pos | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ |
HR | RBI |
| Chris Coghlan | CF | .279 | .347 | .426 | .336 | 104 | 1 | 8 |
| Omar Infante | 2B | .214 | .263 | .271 | .240 | 42 | 0 | 4 |
| Hanley Ramirez | SS | .222 | .354 | .296 | .289 | 74 | 0 | 7 |
| Gaby Sanchez | 1B | .328 | .405 | .453 | .382 | 134 | 1 | 7 |
| Greg Dobbs | 3B | .370 | .400 | .519 | .398 | 144 | 1 | 7 |
| Mike Stanton | RF | .231 | .362 | .462 | .366 | 124 | 1 | 4 |
| John Buck | C | .246 | .281 | .393 | .290 | 75 | 1 | 9 |
| Emilio Bonifacio | LF | .324 | .375 | .378 | .354 | 116 | 0 | 2 |
Bench
| Player | Pos | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ |
HR | RBI |
| Brett Hayes | C | .600 | .600 | 1.200 | .772 | 386 | 1 | 4 |
| Wes Helms | IF | .278 | .316 | .389 | .313 | 89 | 0 | 0 |
| Donnie Murphy | Util | .121 | .194 | .152 | .170 | -3 | 0 | 3 |
| Scott Cousins | OF | .267 | .313 | .533 | .351 | 114 | 1 | 4 |
Closer