Winners of 11 of their last 13 games, the Philadelphia Phillies are set to open a weekend series at the Miami Marlins on Friday night.
This sets up as a mismatch.
Miami has the third-worst record in the majors, while Philadelphia has the best mark.
“We’ve been playing good baseball,” Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber said.
The Phillies are led by first baseman Bryce Harper, who in seven games this month is hitting .364 with three homers and 10 RBIs. The two-time National League MVP has nine homers and 28 RBIs in 34 games this season.
“He’s a perfectionist,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Harper, who had reconstructive elbow surgery last year. “He wants to do well for his team, this city and the organization.”
The Phillies are without shortstop Trea Turner (hamstring), who has twice led the league in steals.
In fact, Turner has 40 steals and has been caught just once since the start of the 2023 season.
However, even without Turner, the Phillies still have a dangerous lineup that includes Harper, Schwarber (102 homers since the start of 2022); and right fielder Nick Castellanos (three 100-plus RBI seasons since 2017).
On the mound, the Phillies will turn to left-hander Ranger Suarez (6-0, 1.77 ERA) to start Friday’s game.
Thanks to an elite curve and a fastball that produces a high volume of ground balls, Suarez is 35-21 with a 3.25 ERA in his career. He is 4-2 with a 3.24 ERA in 18 career games (seven starts) versus the Marlins.
On the other side on Friday will be the Marlins, who already trail the Phillies by 16 1/2 games in the NL East.
Miami will be making the long trip home from the West Coast, where the Marlins lost five of six games. That includes losing a series to the low-budget Oakland A’s and getting swept in three games by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It’s tough to win with just one run,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said after Miami’s 3-1 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday. “We couldn’t get anything going.”
The Marlins are batting just .225, giving them the seventh-worst average in the majors entering play on Thursday. Miami’s 47 doubles are the second fewest in the majors.
In a sense, that sweep this past weekend was understandable because the Dodgers have baseball’s third-highest payroll. Miami’s payroll of $97 million ranks 26th in the majors.
However, Oakland’s payroll of $61 million ranks last in baseball, making that series loss tougher to take.
The Phillies, by the way, rank fourth in payroll ($243 million).
Miami will turn to left-hander Trevor Rogers (0-5, 6.15) to start Friday’s game.
Rogers, 26, is 5-18 since the start of 2022. The Marlins are winless when he starts this season (0-7).
In nine career starts against the Phillies, Rogers is 1-5 with a 6.70 ERA.
Offensively, the Marlins are powered by outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, who leads the team in doubles (eight), homers (eight), RBIs (21) and OPS (.790).
–Field Level Media