Florida Marlins (56-64 / 5th in the NL East / 22.5 GB)
Last Series vs. Rockies: April 22-24, 2011 (W 2-1 at Sun Life Stadium)
When the Rockies headed out on the road to Florida, they were sitting at a 13-5 record. Little did they know, however, that losing this series was to be the beginning of the end for the Rockies. After a scorching 11-2 start to the season, cracks began to appear in the Rockies' collective armor.
Game 1 of the series began in completely poor fashion, with Anibal Sanchez pitching a complete-game 1-hitter. The Rockies jumped to a quick 1-0 lead on a walk, passed ball, groundout to the right side, and an E3. The No-hitter was broken up in the 9th on a Dexter Fowler single through the hole at 2B. Dexter Fowler both scored the Rockies' only run as well as notched the Rockies' only hit. Final, 4-1.
Game 2 came before Jason Hammel was awful. Hammel went 6.2 innings, striking out 4 and walking 1, scattering 7 hits while only allowing a single run. The Rockies tagged Javier Vazquez for 3 runs over 6 innings. Matt Lindstrom, Rafael Betancourt, and Huston Street held the 3-1 lead tight for the final innings of the game. Troy Tulowitzki, Ty Wigginton, and Jason Hammell contributed RBI to the winning cause.
Game 3 was a Ubaldo Jimenez vs Josh Johnson matchup, the battle of the aces. Seeing a challenge like beating Josh Johnson hoped to be the moment that would snap Ubaldo out of his early season funk, that would bring him back to form. Jimenez didn't pitch AWFULLY, as 5IP of 1-hit ball is pretty nasty, but 4 walks and 3 runs are less than desirable from your Ace. The 7 strikeouts were good though, and Colorado fans were looking for any positive news about Ubaldo to cling to. Johnson, on the other hand, went 7 innings, allowing only 1 run. Clay Hensley coughed up the 3-1 lead for the Marlins, but Matt Belisle proceeded to re-cough it up in the 9th by allowing another 3 runs.
Latest Series Results: L 1-2 vs. Milwaukee; W 4-0 at Florida
Every season, the Marlins feature two players: Hanley Ramirez and then the Young Marlin Du Jour who's worth a damn that particular season.
Amusingly enough, this season, neither of those players are Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez is having an uncharacteristically miserable year, batting a mere .243/.333/.379 and still playing inadequate defense.
No, the players worth watching this season on the Marlins are RF Mike Stanton and SP Anibal Sanchez.
Stanton, known for his prodigious power, has certainly not disappointed in that department this year. Stanton is sporting a strong .262 ISO (SLG - AVG), 6th highest in the majors among qualified players. For those of you keeping score at home, his .262 ISO is higher than his .259 average, suggesting that he averages more than a double for every hit he gets. As far as power numbers go, Stanton has hit 20 doubles, 5 triples, 25 HR, 70 RBI. That's 50 XBH (extra base hits) out of 104 overall hits. Out of control.
On the other side of the game, Anibal Sanchez is quietly having himself a fantastic season as well.
Don't let his 4.00 ERA fool you. Sanchez, this season, has a 3.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio (where roughly 2 is about average). His 0.92 HR/9 is a little concerning, but it's not so far off of his career 0.78 HR/9 that one would call it a serious aberration. A higher-than-normal .329 BABIP is inflating his 3.21 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) up to that 4.00 level. Were we to normalize his HR rate, Sanchez is pitching at a 3.05 xFIP level, by far the best of his career. Sanchez has a career high 9.41 K/9, career low 2.58 BB/9, and is on pace to likely match his 4.3 fWAR this season. And aren't we all excited to see him pitch against us again.
Expected Pitching Matchups
Monday, 8/15, 6:40PM MT
Tuesday, 8/16, 6:40PM MT
Wednesday, 8/17, 6:40PM MT