MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:
MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins today play the third of four games at the Rockies. Continues a three-city, 10-game road trip that started with three at San Francisco, where Miami took one of three, and wraps up back in California with three games at Los Angeles (AL). • Miami is in a current stretch of 13 straight days with games until their next off day on Memorial Day (May 29).
- Are looking to avoid their fourth straight series loss at Coors Field.
YESTERDAY’S RECAP
Miami dropped game two at Colorado, 5-4. RHP Eury Perez allowed 4 runs (3 earned) over 4.1 innings with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts, taking the first loss of his young career. RF Jorge Soler (2×5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI) put the Marlins ahead early with his team-leading 13th home run. DH Garrett Cooper (1×5, 1 HR, 2 RBI) added a home run of his own, his first since April 9 at NYM. Miami went 0x7 with runners in scoring position and left 9 runners on base.
SANDY STOPPER
In 2022, Sandy Alcantara started 11 games following at least 3 straight Marlins losses. He went 6-3 with a 2.95 ERA (73.2 IP/24 ER) in the 11 outings last year, with the Marlins winning eight of the contests to stop the skids.
- Has had three such starts in 2023: April 4 vs. the Twins – tossed a 3-hit shutout to end a Marlins three-game losing streak, April 26 at Braves – went 5.2 innings and allowed 2 runs, and May 7 at Cubs – tossed a shutout into the ninth inning before surrendering 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings. Miami has gone 2-1 in these starts with Sandy boasting a 1.56 ERA (23.0 IP/4 ER).
DE LA CRUZIN’
OF Bryan De La Cruz on Monday recorded his second-career 4-hit game (other, Sept. 24, 2022 vs. WSH). Has hit safely in 18 of 20 gms played in May, batting .366 (26×71) with 11 runs scored, 5 doubles, 3 HR, 9 RBI, and a .963 OPS. Has raised his batting avg. from .253 entering May to .302 for the season.
- De La Cruz’s 12 multi-hit games rank 2nd on the team. Ranks t-4th in MLB with 6 games of 3+ hits (6-way tie, with also Arraez)
- DLC and Arraez make the Marlins 1 of 3 teams in MLB (only NL club) to have at least 2 qualified hitters batting over .300.
- In his last 15 gms (May 6-22), has posted a .393 avg (22×56), the highest mark among qualified hitters in this span.
WHAT IS ALL THIS TRAFFIC FOR?
The Marlins have put together three consecutive 10+ hit games, totaling 35 hits dating back to Sunday’s game at San Francisco (13, 11, 11). Have scored a total of 12 runs in this span.
- Marks the 14th time in club history the club has recorded at least 35 hits and scored no more than 12 runs in any 3-game span. Is the eighth time that this span also coincided with three losses.
HE’S HERE AND HE’S PERFECT
RHP Eury Perez made his third Major League start yesterday at Colorado, becoming the youngest starting pitcher in Coors Field history and third-youngest pitcher (TOR’s Elvis Luciano at 19 yrs, 105 days on May 31, 2019 and LAD’s Julio Urias at 19 yrs, 357 days on Aug. 3, 2016).
- Made his Major League debut on May 12 at 20 years and 27 days, becoming the youngest pitcher in Marlins history. The previous youngest pitcher was Jose Fernandez, who debuted at 20 years and 250 days.
- Became the second youngest player (position / pitcher) to debut with the Marlins in club history, behind only INF Edgar Renteria who debuted at 19 years and 277 days.
- Became the youngest Dominican-born starting pitcher to debut in MLB, and the third-youngest DR-born pitcher (reliever / starter) at the time of his debut behind Elvis Luciano (TOR, 2019, (19 yrs, 44 days) and Jose Rijo (CIN, 194, 18 yrs, 328 days).
GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
2B Luis Arraez leads MLB with his .371 batting avg. (62×167) and ranks 4th with a .424 OBP and 2 hits. Is tied for 4th with 18 multi-hit gms. Has struck out 9 times in 186 PA (.048 K/PA), the lowest mark in MLB among qualified batters.
- Is the highest avg. through a player’s first 45 gms to start a season since Cody Bellinger’s .409 avg. through his first 45 gms with the Dodgers in 2019.
- Only Dee Strange-Gordon (72) has more hits for a Marlins player through his first 45 games of a season.
- Is batting a National League-best .383 (31×81) on the road this season. Has hit safely in 17 of 21 games away from Miami. Only NYY’s Aaron Judge has a higher road avg. (.386).
- Marks the best start to a stint with a new ballclub through 45 gms since Daniel Murphy’s .392 avg. with the Nationals in 2016 after they signed him as a free agent.
- With two hits last Wednesday, reached the 500-hit plateau, becoming the seventh active player to reach 500 hits within their first 428 career gms. Joined Bo Bichette (407), Mookie Betts (408), Mike Trout (423), Jose Altuve (426), Whit Merrifield (426), and Jose Abreu (428).
CLOSE CALLS
The Marlins have had each of their last nine games decided by two runs or less. Overall, Miami is 15-3 (.833) in games decided by one run, the best such win pct. in the Majors. The second-best mark is Milwaukee (11-8, .727). The 18 one-run contests are tied for the fourth-most among Major League teams. Miami went 24-40 in one-run games in 2022.
- Miami started the year with a 12-0 record in one-run games, surpassing the 1972 New York Mets 11-0 stretch of one-run games to mark the most in MLB history.
DANCING ON A THIN LINE
Thus far in 2023, Miami is 23-3 when limiting opponents to 4 runs or less and has gone 1-22 when allowing 5 or more runs.
PODER SOLER
DH/OF Jorge Soler has hit safely in 13 of his last 18 games, including 6 multi-hit efforts. Has collected 8 home runs and 19 RBI and is slashing .310/.380/.676 with a 1.056 OPS in this span. Is now tied for 5th in MLB with 13 HR (T-3rd in NL).
- Leads MLB with 8 HR, 1.111 slugging, and 1.599 OPS vs. left-handed pitching this season.
- With Monday’s home run, Soler has now homered in 7 of Luzardo’s 10 starts this season, including 2 multi-HR games. Owns a .500 batting avg. (20×40) in these starts with 9 HR and 21 RBI.
- 8 of his 12 home runs this season have tied the game or given the Marlins the lead.
- Recorded fourth career 4-hit game Sunday and first since Sept. 11, 2019 at Chicago-AL.
GREAT WHEN LATE
The Marlins’ offense ranks third in MLB with a .275 avg. in the seventh inning or later, behind only Arizona (.282) and Houston (.278).
- In this string of 3 losses, Miami has gone 12×38 (.316) in the seventh or later, the third-best mark in MLB during this span.
HEATING UP
C Nick Fortes has hit safely in his last 5 starts, including 2 multi-hit games, going 7×20 (.350) with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts in this span.
COLORADO ROCKIES NOTES:
BRING IT IN
- The Colorado Rockies play the third game tonight of a seven-game homestand against the Miami Marlins (2-0) and New York Mets (May 26-28) … coming off a brief three-game trip to Texas, where they were swept by the Rangers for the first time.
- The Rockies are in the midst of a stretch of 17 straight games without an off-day from May 19-June 4, their longest stretch without an off day this season.
- Colorado has won four of their last six series since May 2 and five of their last eight series since April 24 … had lost or split each of their first seven series of the season prior to this stretch.
- The Rockies are 13-8 over their last 21 and 15-11 through their last 25 since April 24, a .577 winning percentage that is the tied for the fourth-best mark in the NL over that span behind three fellow NL West clubs: Los Angeles (19-8, .704), Arizona (17-9, .654), San Francisco (16-11, .593).
BRING ON MIAMI
- The Rockies have won 13 of their past 16 home games over the Marlins since Sept. 26, 2017, and 10 of the last 11 since 2019 … overall, the Rockies are 108-117 against their fellow expansion team, 69-44 at home.
- In 20 career games against the Fish, Elias Díaz is slashing .375/.453/.786 with six doubles, one triple, five home runs and 12 RBI … Charlie Blackmon is slashing .305/418/.607 with 11 doubles, one triple seven home runs and 28 RBI in 60 career games against Miami.
BLUE ARROW
- Outfielder Jurickson Profar holds an active 31-game on-base streak since April 15, the longest active streak in the Majors and the second-longest streak this season, trailing Yordan Álvarez (36 games) … slashing .268/.359/.423 through the streak with 18 walks.
- Since May 7, Profar is batting .340 (18-for-53) with seven doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and eight multi-hit games over this span … has multiple hits in four of his last five games (9-for-22).
SOMBOR SHUFFLE
- Despite playing in only 24 games, Brenton Doyle’s four home runs are tied for seventh-most among NL rookies.
- Has stolen a club-best seven bases, tied for the third-most among all NL rookies and tied for the 12th-most among all NL players … is one of seven Major Leaguers with at least seven stolen bases and no caught stealings.
MAXIE THE MINER
- Catcher Elias Díaz ranks second in the Majors with a .345 batting average and is tied for fourth with a .463 batting average (19-for-41) with runners in scoring position.
- Díaz is hitting a Major League leading .405 (3-for-74) at home … has gone 14-for-23 (.609) with 14 RBI with runners in scoring position at Coors Field.
- Has appeared in 41 games at catcher, the second-most in the Majors … his 10 catcher caught stealing are third in the Majors, while his 44.0 caught stealing percentage ranks second (min. 20 games).
BALL ARENA
- Jake Bird ranks second among Major League relievers with 32.2 innings pitched … his 34 strikeouts are tied for second among NL relief pitchers … has posted a 0.67 ERA (27.0 IP, 2 ER) with nine walks and 30 strikeouts over his last 18 appearances since April 11.
- Brent Suter’s 30.2 innings of relief are third in the Majors and are second in the NL behind Bird … his 0.88 ERA (30.2 IP, 3 ER) is the fourth-lowest in the Majors among relievers and the lowest by any Rockies reliever through their first 20 appearances of a season in franchise history (min. 20 IP).
SOME NUGGETS
- The Rockies are the only team in the Majors to have an undefeated record (19-0) when leading after seven innings, while going 20-0 when leading after eight … alternatively, the Rockies are 0-24 when trailing after seven innings, one of three teams without a win when trailing after seven (also: New York NL and Texas).
- Last night’s victory was the Rockies’ fourth of the season, and second in a row, when getting out-hit by their opponent.
ROCKIES STARTING PITCHER – #51 KARL KAUFFMANN RHP
KAUFFMANN, KARL KAUFFMANN
- Bloomfield Hills, Mich. native makes his second Major League start today and first at home after making his Major League debut on May 20 at Texas.
- Originally selected in the Competitive Balance Round B of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Michigan.
THERE’S ONLY ONE 22,935th
- Became the 22,935th player in Major League Baseball history when he made his debut on Friday in Texas.
- Also became the first starting pitcher to debut for the Rockies since Ryan Feltner on Sept. 5, 2021 … is the 10th starting pitcher used by the Rockies this season.
- Took the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits over 4.1 innings, striking out four and walking two.
- Struck out Marcus Semien, the first batter he faced, for his first Major League strikeout … would go on to also strike out Adolis Garcia, Leody Taveras and Jonah Heim.
- Tossed three clean innings before allowing two runs in the fourth on a Garcia home run … allowed three more runs in the fifth before exiting
the game with one out.
HERE’S THE LATEST
- Has made eight starts this season with Triple-A Albuquerque, going 2-3 with a 7.78 ERA (37.0 IP, 32 ER) with 12 walks and 26 strikeouts …
tossed his second quality start of the year last time out at Las Vegas on May 10, allowing two runs on seven hits over 6.0 innings, walking none and striking out five. - Holds a combined 6.68 ERA (101.0 IP, 75 ER) over 21 starts in two seasons of Triple-A ball, walking 57 and striking out 86 while opponents have hit .298 against him (124-for-416).
