Current Series
3 game series vs Marlins @ Minute Maid Park
Florida Marlins Tuesday, Apr 20, 2010, 7:05 PM CDT Chris Volstad vs Brett Myers Partly cloudy. Winds blowing from right to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 75. Complete Coverage > | ||
| Wed 04/21 | 7:05 PM CDT | |
| Thu 04/22 | 7:05 PM CDT | |
The more things change, the more they stay the same with the Florida Marlins. The Phish enter a three-game series at MMP a half-game out of first place in the NL East. Chris Volstad will face Brett Myers in the opening game of the series while offseason trade darling Josh Johnson will oppose Bud Norris on Wednesday. Anibel Sanchez and Felipe Paulino close the series out on Thursday.
Volstad (1-1) seems like he has been around a while, but is just 23. His x-FIP of 4.96 is higher than his ERA right now and that might be due to a very low BABiP of .233. Volstad allowed three runs over 6 2/3 innings in his latest outing against the Reds, striking out five while walking four. Johnson struck out 10 Reds last Thursday in his best outing of the season. After signing a lucrative contract extension in the offseason (thus keeping him out of the trade market), Johnson has struggled in 2010 due to a very high BABiP of .404. His K rate of 11.25 is second in the majors to Carlos Zambrano and his x-FIP of 3.46 is very good. Sanchez has struggled this season, but it's not really due to luck, as far as I can tell. His problem seems to be that he can't miss many bats. His K rate of 4.50 is barely higher than his BB rate of 3.50. His line drive and ground ball rates are all solid, which leaves me to suppose his stuff just isn't there. Maybe he's dealing with an injury?
As for the bullpen, Leo Nunez has been very good as the closer, though Burke Badenhop and Tim Wood have also gotten saves. Badenhop has struck out eight in 9 2/3 innings of work as the primary setup guy, while Wood actually has the higher average leverage index. We're dealing with very small sample sizes, though. The rest of the bullpen has struggled a bit, despite good strikeout numbers. Clay Hensley, Dan Meyer, Jose Veras and Renyel Pinto and Chris Leroux have all had varying degrees of success.
The lineup has been what's held the team together so far. Jorge Cantu has gotten most of the headlines for getting an RBI in his team's first 11 games. Don't overlook guys like Hanley Ramirez or Dan Uggla, who both have higher wOBAs. Former top prospect Cameron Maybin, acquired from Detroit in the Miguel Cabrera deal, has also started the season well. Maybin has a .363 wBOA with three stolen bases in three tries. Rookie Gaby Sanchez has also started the season well, hitting .279/.378/.488 in his first 13 games. Sanchez won the first-base job over younger prospect Logan Morrison this spring and has not disappointed. The only player struggling right now in the Marlins lineup is Chris Coghlan. The 2009 feel-good story is 5 for 46 in 10 games with no extra-base hits, two walks and 11 strikeouts.
