Philadelphia Phillies Series Preview: The Miami Marlins

Today the Philadelphia Phillies will continue their homestand by welcoming the Miami Marlins to town for a three-game series.

The Philadelphia Phillies will begin their eighth series against NL East competition and their second series with the Marlins. The Philadelphia Phillies took two out of three the first time that these teams met and will look to do the same this time around. The Phillies are in second place in the NL East and are one game out of first with the Marlins sitting in fourth place at 20-17 but only 2.5 games out of first. The NL East is beginning turning into a tight race where each team will beat up on each other down the stretch and they will all gain some wins off of the Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies are in second place in the NL East and are one game out of first with the Marlins sitting in fourth place at 20-17 but only 2.5 games out of first. The NL East is beginning turning into a tight race where each team will beat up on each other down the stretch and they will all gain some wins off of the Atlanta Braves.

The Philadelphia Phillies have continued their hot streak by going 6-4 in their last 10 games and are coming off of a series win against the Cincinnati Reds. The Marlins have been an even 5-5 in their last 10 games but have been buoyed by a 12-7 record in away games. This will be an important series for both the balance of the NL East as well as the wild card race.

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Looking at the statistics for each team the Philadelphia Phillies have only allowed opposing teams to bat .237 whiled the Marlins are allowing teams to bat .251 (hopefully the Phillies offence can take advantage of that). The Marlins are also right behind the Phillies in saves (the Phillies have 16 and the Marlins have 15) which shows that both teams have been led through the season by their outstanding bullpens and that we should expect some close games during the series.

The Marlins are also right behind the Phillies in saves (the Phillies have 16 and the Marlins have 15) which shows that both teams have been led through the season by their outstanding bullpens and that we should expect some close games during the series.

The pitching matchups each night are as follows:

• Monday: Jerad Eickhoff (4.43 ERA) vs Adam Conley (3.72 ERA)
• Tuesday: Vincent Velasquez (2.70 ERA) vs Wei-Yin Chen (4.40 ERA)
• Wednesday: Jeremy Hellickson (4.12 ERA) vs Tom Koehler (5.14 ERA)

Each team will miss each other’s ace’s with Aaron Nola and Jose Fernandez both missing this series but there should be some interesting matchups. The Philadelphia Phillies bullpen will also be in for a test in this one because the only truly reliable pitcher that will take the mound in this series is Vincent Velasquez. The bullpen could be called upon to hold leads or keep the Phillies in games with the threat of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich looming large.

Offensively these teams are in different leagues. The Philadelphia Phillies have hit .233 as a team and only have three players that are above average in Carlos Ruiz , Cameron Rupp, and Odubel Herrera. The Marlins offence is beginning to show imprints of new hitting coach Barry Bonds as they have a .274 team batting average which is good for third in all of Major League Baseball. The Marlins have also been showing good patience at the plate with a .335 team on-base percentage.

Next: Phillies Minor League Report - AA

This series is the stereotypical matchup of a great offence against a great pitching staff and it should be a good one to watch. Hopefully, the Philadelphia Phillies can continue their recent knack of grabbing clutch hits in this one to win their fourth straight series and possibly end in first place i the NL East. My prediction is that the Philadelphia Phillies win the series 2-1 with one of the wins being of  the walk-off variety.