Series Preview: Marlins at Phillies, April 9- 12

The Phillies will kick off their home schedule on Monday when they host a familiar division rival, the newly named Miami Marlins, in the opener of a three-game set. Led by lefty Cole Hamels, who will start on Monday afternoon, the Phillies will try to get back to the winning ways that brought their organization five straight division championships, after losing their last two contests in disappointing, walk-off fashion to Pittsburgh over the weekend.

Hamels, who posted a 2.93 ERA in 7 spring training outings, begins a crucial season, with not only the Phillies' run of division dominance on the line, but perhaps his entire future on it too, as the 2008 World Series Most Valuable Player will have the opportunity to sign a hefty contract sometime in the next 10 months, or so.

With a sluggish offense thus far in 2012, averaging 2 runs per contest, the Phillies have depended on their starting pitching to keep them in games. In the first three games the season, Philadelphia starters have sported a 0.90 ERA.

In the series opener, the Marlins will counter with right-hander Anibal Sanchez, who has struggled against the Phillies in his career with a 3-8 record and a 5.09 ERA in 16 starts.

Read ahead for more details on the pitching match ups and loads more stats for this series.

Monday, 1:05 PM. Anibal Sanchez (8-9, 3.67 ERA in 2011) vs. Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.79 ERA in 2011). In 10 career starts at Citizen Bank Park, Sanchez has posted a 1-6 record with a 6.58 ERA. Sanchez went 0-1 with a 3.41 ERA in 5 starts against the Phillies last season. Placido Polanco is 9-for-18 (.500 avg) with a double, a triple and 2 HR against Sanchez in his career. In 15 regular season home starts last year, Hamels went 7-6 with a 2.64 ERA and a .209 batting average against. In 19 career starts against the Marlins, Hamels has posted a 6-7 record with a 3.44 ERA. Chris Coghlan is 7-for-17 (.412 avg) with 2 HR in his career against Hamels.

Wednesday, 7:05 PM. Josh Johnson (0-1, 4.50 ERA in 1 start this season) vs. Roy Halladay (1-0, 0.00 ERA in 1 start this season). In 14 career games (12 starts) against Philadelphia, Johnson has a 5-3 record with a 3.16 ERA. Pete Orr is 6-for-15 (.400 avg) in his career against Johnson. The Marlins' ace is 4-0 with a 1.87 ERA in 6 career outings at Citizens Bank Park. In 10 career starts against the Marlins, Halladay is 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA. Halladay has a 20-8 record and a 2.31 ERA in 34 regular season games at Citizens Bank Park. In 3 starts against the Marlins last year, Halladay had a 0-1 record with a 3.00 ERA. Giancarlo "Mike" Stanton and Logan Morrison are a combined 2-for-23 (.087 avg) in their careers against Halladay.

Thursday, 7:05 PM. Mark Buehrle (0-1, 3.00 ERA in 1 start this season) vs. Joe Blanton (0-1, 13.50 ERA in 1 relief appearance this season). The lefty Buerhrle is 3-0 with a 5.06 ERA in 3 career starts against the Phillies. Polanco is 14-for-35 (.400 avg) in his career against Buehrle. In 9 career starts against the Marlins, Blanton is 6-2 with a 3.33 ERA. As a Phillie in April, Blanton is 0-4 with a 7.65 ERA in 9 games (8 starts). Coghlan is 7-for-14 (.500 avg) in his career against Blanton.

Heath Bell has a 1-1 record with 5 saves, 0 blown saves and a 2.93 ERA in 26 career games against the Phillies. Juan Pierre is 7-for-12 (.583 avg) in his career against Bell.

In 123 career games against the Phillies, Jose Reyes has a .307 average with 16 homers, 51 RBI and 48 steals. Reyes is a combined 25-for-68 (.368 avg) against Hamels and Halladay.

Hanley Ramirez went 2-for-15 (.133 avg) in 5 games at Citizens Bank Park last year. Ramirez is just 2-for-15 in the early going this season.

In 16 career games against the Phillies, right-handed reliever Edward Mujica has a 3-0 record with a 1.56 ERA and a .200 batting average against.

In 98 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Jim Thome is a .239 hitter with 26 HR and 60 RBI. Thome batted .324 with runners in scoring position last season.

Laynce Nix has a career .111 batting average with a .339 OPS in 15 games at Citizens Bank Park.

Chad Qualls has atrocious numbers at his new home park- 2-2 record, 14 earned runs and 7 HR allowed in 11 1/3 innings with a .420 batting average against in 13 appearances at Citizens Bank Park.

In 34 games at Citizens Bank Park during his career, Hunter Pence has a .318 average with 3 HR and 18 RBI.

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2021 Phillies Top Prospects Countdown: #22 SS Casey Martin

Please visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work, get access to material like this before anyone else and get access to interviews as well as other exclusive content you can't get anywhere else. A third round draft pick last year, Arkansas junior Casey Martin was quickly signed by the Phillies and consideration as one of the organization's top infield prospects quickly began. The team's confidence in his ceiling is likely evident in the signing bonus he got, which was reportedly $1.3 million, which was considerably more than slot money dictated by his 87th overall draft position ($685K). The right-handed batting Martin tallied a .311/.393/.545 slash line with 30 homers, 24 steals and 112 RBI in 143 games through his college career at Arkansas. Reports had him falling in the draft as a result of an injury to the hamate bone in his left hand prior to his 2020 season. Prior to the procedure, Baseball America projected Martin as a top ten draft pick.

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against. The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi

Slick fielding Sam is the Champion of the (PhoulBallz) world!

Phillies Ball(z)girl Sam Arnone was kind enough to answer some questions for the PhoulBallz site and all of you. Sam will be entering her 3rd season as a Phillies ballgirl and is a junior at Drexel University. Sam hails from the great town of Mt. Ephram, NJ. 1- Since the Phillies are the World Champions of baseball teams, are the Phillies ballgirls the world champions of ballgirl teams? - Of Course!!! There are not that many teams that have Ballgirls, so the competition is a little scarce. I would definitely put my team up against any other Ballgirl team with full confidence! 2- What is your routine to prepare for a day of on-field duties? - Before a game, I am always a little nervous. Once I am ready to leave my house and head to the ballpark I triple check my bag to make sure I have my glove and then I check again. I always have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat because it keeps me full and gives me energy for the entire game. I guess I might have to find a new favorite sa

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