Skip to main content

Series Preview: Phillies at Marlins, May 6-8

Fresh off a series loss on the road in St. Louis that saw the cruising Phillies (16-13) drop three of four, the team heads south to take on the division rival Marlins (15-12) in the three-game set this weekend.

The Phils had been winners of 15 of their last 21 games prior to visiting the Cardinals. Now, they'll look to get back on the winning track in Miami.

This will be the first meeting between the two clubs this season.

Friday, 7:10 PM. RHP Vince Velasquez (4-1, 1.44 ERA) vs. LHP Wei-Yin Chen (2-1, 4.26 ERA). In two road starts this season, Velasquez has a 2-0 record with a 2.25 ERA. Velasquez's .164 batting average against ranks 6th best in MLB so far this season. He has not allowed a run in three of his five outings this season. Chen threw eight shutout innings in his lone career start against the Phillies last June. Chen sports a 4.91 ERA in three home starts this season.

Saturday, 7:10 PM. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. RHP Tom Koehler (2-3, 7.25 ERA). In four career starts against the Marlin, the 29-year-old Hellickson has a 0-1 record with a 3.97 ERA. Hellickson sports a 3.00 ERA in four road starts this season. Ichiro Suzuki is 2-for-19 (.105 avg) in his career against Hellickson. Koehler, 29, has a 2-3 record with a 4.53 ERA in 11 games against the Phillies. Koehler has a 3.72 ERA in 50 career games at Marlins Park. Odubel Herrera is 3-for-8 (.375 avg) against Koehler.

Sunday, 1:10 PM. RHP Aaron Nola (2-2, 2.93 ERA) vs. LHP Justin Nicolino (2-0, 2.70 ERA). Nola tossed eight shutout innings in his lone career start against the Marlins. Nola, 22, has a 2-0 record and a 0.64 ERA in four road starts this season. Nicolino, 24, was a 2nd round draft pick (by Toronto) in 2010. He is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts against the Phillies.

Maikel Franco is batting .314 with four homers in 14 road games this year. Franco is 1-for-17 (.059 avg) in his last five games.

Odubel Herrera's .447 OBP is tied for second best in the majors. The 24-year-old lefty batter has a .368 batting average in 19 career games against the Marlins.

In 10 games against the Marlins, Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez has a 2-0 record with a 0.95 ERA and a .203 batting average against.

In 70 career games against the Phils, outfielder Giancarlo Stanton has a .266 batting average with 17 home runs and 38 RBI. The righty batting slugger is hitting .400 with six home runs over his last 10 games.

Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria has a .284 batting average with a homer and 19 RBI in 43 games against the Phils. The righty hitting Cuban has a .184 average in 11 home games this year.

The Phillies' team batting average against left-handers is .166, worst in the majors.

Marlins' bullpen ERA- 3.29 (12th in MLB)
Phillies' bullpen ERA- 4.32 (22nd in MLB)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...