MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:
MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins tonight begin a three-game series at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. Is the second stop on their six-game road trip – the team’s first road trip of the season. Started the trip taking one of three against the Mets at Citi Field. Following this series, return home for a six-game homestand against Arizona (Fri-Sun) and San Francisco (Mon-Wed).
YESTERDAY’S RECAP
Miami took the series finale, 7-2, at the Mets. The Marlins improved to 11-7 all-time on Easter Sunday. LF Bryan De La Cruz hit his first homer of the year in the first inning, a three-run shot, and reached base in all four plate appearances (2×2, 2 walks). Matched his career high with 4 RBI (fourth time). DH Garrett Cooper (2×5) added a two-run homer in the fifth, his team-leading third home run of the year. LHP Braxton Garrett held the Mets to 2 runs in 4.2 innings of work, striking out 7.
JACKIE ROBINSON CLASSIC RETURNS
The Marlins and the Miami Marlins Foundation will host the second annual Jackie Robinson Classic on Wednesday, April 12 at loanDepot park. Presented by NIKE, this year’s Classic will pit two Broward County teams – Piper High and South Broward High – against each other for a regular season game. The Classic will celebrate Jackie’s legacy as each student-athlete will wear a customized Marlins shirt with the number 42 on the back along with one of Jackie’s nine values. The South Florida community is invited to cheer on the teams at the complimentary event and jam along with the high school bands! Courtesy of JP Morgan, the students and bands from each school will enjoy a ballpark hot dog, chips and a drink.
COOP-A-LOOP
1B Garrett Cooper has hit safely in seven of his nine games this season, going 11×34 (.324). Dating back to last season, he has hit safely in each of his last 8 road games.
• Only two National League players have more homers – Pete Alonso (5) and Bryan Reynolds (5)
• Owns a .333 (22×66) career average at Citizens Bank Park, his third-highest mark at any opponents ballpark in which he’s played at least two series (Busch Stadium – .450; Coors Field – .429).
GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
INF Luis Arraez has 16 hits in his first 10 games of the year. Is tied with the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman for most hits among National Leaguers, with only Toronto’s Matt Chapman (19), Vlad Guerrero Jr. (18), and Bo Bichette (17) collecting more in the Majors. Among qualifiers, his .471 avg. (16×34) leads the NL and trails only Chapman (.485) in the Majors.
• Arraez’s 16 hits are the most for a player in their first 10 games with the Marlins since Emilio Bonifacio (17) in 2009. Only Cameron Maybin (18 in 2008), Juan Pierre (18 in 2003), and Bonifacio (17 in 2009) collected more hits in their first 10 contests with the Marlins.
• Became just the second player in Marlins history to reach base safely as the starting leadoff hitter in each of the first four games to start a season, joining Hanley Ramirez in 2006 (credit: Elias).
• Has struck out just 3 times in 39 plate appearances.
PHITIN’ THE PHILS
Of the 19 games played between the Marlins and Phillies last year, the Marlins had the lead at some point in 14 of the contests, but went just 7-12 vs. Philly. 11 of the contests between the teams were decided by two runs or less. The Marlins had 9 losses in ‘22 when tied or leading after the end of 7th inning – four of which came at Citizens Bank Park.
JUNIOR RBI’ers
On Thursday, the Marlins Jr. RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) season started up with the Marlins and loanDepot, hosting special Opening Day festivities for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade – Northwest Club at Coral City Park. A special first pitch was thrown by Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Oliver G. Gilbert, III. As part of its continued commitment to the Miami community and in collaboration with the Miami Marlins Foundation, loanDepot supports the growth of youth baseball and softball teams for kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade – Northwest Club.
• This year, nearly 50 teams across South Florida are taking the field in their Marlins uniform as part of the Marlins RBI program. Participants enjoy a free, fun, and instructional spring league in addition to clinics hosted by Marlins players and alumni. The Marlins provide uniforms, equipment, and umpires for the leagues.
HOMER TIME
The Marlins have scored 20 of their 27 runs this season via home runs. Have hit 11 homers total over the first 10 games, homering in eight of the contests, including each of the last five.
NOBODY MESSES WITH THE JESUS
LHP Jesus Luzardo held the Twins to 1 run over 7.0 innings of work for the win in his last start on Wednesday. Dating back to last season, has limited opponents to 1 run or no runs in each of his last 4 starts at loanDepot park. Over the stretch, owns a 0.73 ERA (24.2/2) in his home starts, striking out 38 batters.
FISH ON THE RUN
The Marlins stole 5 bases in yesterday’s win at the Mets (without being caught), their most since June 18, 2022, also at Mets. Their 7 stolen bases this year are fifth most in the NL. Since the start of 2020, the Marlins have stolen 155 bases on the road, the most for any team over the stretch.
RING THE BELL
Marlins General Manager Kim Ng and President of Business Operations Caroline O’Connor were joined by ADT Executive Vice President and CMO DeLu Jackson at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning to ring the Opening Bell. The opportunity was extended in recognition of the Marlins’ jersey patch partnership with ADT and to highlight the Marlins organization as the first to be entirely women-led.
TODAY’S STARTER – #22 SANDY ALCANTARA
• Sandy Alcantara (Al-CON-ta-ra), 27, finished his historic 2022 season with 32 starts going 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 228.2 innings, along with 6 complete games, a 0.98 WHIP, and a .212 opponents’ batting average in 32 starts. He led Major League Baseball in innings pitched and complete games and led all NL pitchers with an 8.1 WAR (Baseball Reference). During Alcantara’s entire life (born Sept. 1995) only two pitchers reached the same statistical totals since the 1996 season: Felix Hernandez, SEA (2010) and Pedro Martinez, MON (1997).
• Alcantara’s fourth career shutout on April 4th marks the fourth time in club history that a Marlins pitcher has thrown a complete game shutout in the first six team games of the regular season (Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett, 2005 and Brad Penny, 2002).
• Won Baseball Digest’s MLB Pitcher of the Year Award. Became the second Marlin to win this honor (Dontrelle Willis, 2005). Was named the second annual Juan Marichal Award recipient, an honor given to the league’s best Dominican player.
• His 14 wins were the most by a Marlins pitcher since Jose Urena in 2017 (14-7). The last Marlin to have more wins was Jose Fernandez, who won 16 games in 2016.
• Became the first pitcher since Chris Sale in 2016 to throw 6 CG. Only three pitchers in club history have recorded more CGs in a season – Livan Hernandez (9, 1998), A.J. Burnett (7, 2002) and Dontrelle Willis (7, 2005).
• Posted a 1.64 ERA (121.0 IP/22 ER) in 16 starts at loanDepot park in 2022. Marked the best home ERA by a Marlins starter with at least 15 starts since Jose Fernandez in 2016 and is the fourth-lowest mark in club history (J. Fernandez, 1.19 – 2013; J. Johnson, 1.57, 2010; J. Fernandez, 1.63 – 2016).
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
GAME #9 RECAP: The Phillies fell to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4, on ring day in South Philly … Starter Taijuan Walker (ND) went 4.2 innings and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits with 5 walks and 5 strikeouts … Alec Bohm homered, and Bryson Stott had 2 more hits to raise his season average to .429 … The Reds rallied for 3 runs in the 9th inning off Seranthony Dominguez to avoid a sweep in a series the Phillies won, 2-1.
EVERY TIME THE MOON SHINES I BECOME ALIVE: Tonight marks the first night game of 2023 at Citizens Bank Park … Last year, under the lights at CBP, the Phillies went 35-19 (.648 win %) with a +66 run differential (275-209) … Regular season only, the Phillies have won 14 of their last 16 at home under the lights (.875 win %, since 8/20/22), 19 of 22 (.864 win %, since 8/4/22) and 29 of 39 (.744 win %, since 6/1/22).
CITIZENS BANK SPARK: Since July 27, 2022, the Phillies have played 42 games at Citizens Bank Park (regular and postseason combined) – they have won 30 of them (.714 winning %) … Among all clubs since July 27, 2022, Philadelphia’s .714 winning percentage at home (regular and postseason combined) ranks 2nd in MLB to only ATL (24-9, .727 win %).
BEDLAM AT THE BANK: Friday marked the 20th home opener in the history of Citizens Bank Park (since 2004) … During the 2022 postseason, the Phillies went 6-2 in eight games (.750 win %) at CBP, outscoring the opposition 44-23 (+21 run differential) … The Phillies posted an .839 OPS in 284 combined plate appearances at home during the postseason and slugged 18 home runs (2.25 per game, .508 SLG) … Philadelphia’s 18 home runs at their home park rank T-1st in MLB history during the postseason with the 2017 Astros (2020 Rays hit 23 HR but games were held at neutral sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic) … Overall, there have been 138 teams in MLB history to play at least five postseason games in a single postseason at home – the 2022 Phillies rank 2nd out of those 138 clubs with an average of 2.25 home runs per game (HOU in 2020, neutral site, 2.40 HR/G) … Last year, the Phillies became only the eighth team in MLB history to win each of their first six postseason games at home … All-time in the postseason at CBP, the Phillies are 22-11 (.667 win %) with a +63 run differential (178-115) … Since Oct. 3, 2007, the day CBP hosted its first postseason game, Philadelphia’s .667 winning percentage during the postseason at home is best in MLB (min. 25 G) – the Astros at Minute Maid Park rank 2nd (.625), Red Sox at Fenway 3rd (.649), Giants at Oracle 4th (.643) and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium 5th .623).
SAINT NICK: Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos ranks T-2nd among all major league players with 3 defensive runs saved (DRS) this season … Castellanos, who leads the Phillies in DRS (next: Realmuto, 2 DRS), ranks T-2nd among all MLB outfielders in DRS as well (others: Mike Yastrzemski, Kyle Isbel and Joey Wiemer) and trails only SEA’s Teoscar Hernandez, who leads MLB with 5 DRS … At the plate, Castellanos is the only player in baseball this season with at least six doubles and six walks and he’s one of only four players with at least six extra-base hits and six walks (others: Matt Olson, Xander Bogaerts and Will Smith) … Castellanos has six walks through nine games while averaging 4.22 pitches per plate appearance – last season he drew his ninth walk in his 17th game and averaged 3.70 pitches per plate appearance over 558 PA’s for the year.
STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO, GOOD LUCK: Phillies LHP Jose Alvarado extended his career-best scoreless streak to 17.2 innings yesterday (18 G, since 8/26/22) … Over that stretch, he has struck out 34 of the 59 batters he has faced (57.6 %) while walking only three (5.1%) and holding opponents to a .073/.121/.073 slash line … This season, Alvardo has struck out 11 of the 13 batters he has faced (84.6%) including each of the last 10 … Per Elias, Alvarado is the first Phillies relief pitcher and only the third in MLB in the expansion era (since 1961) to strike out 10 consecutive batters within a single season, joining Eric Gagne (10 straight, 5/17-21/03) and Chad Greene (10 straight, 9/18-24/19) … Since Sept. 25, 2022, Alvarado has pitched 7.1 innings over 7 appearances – he has 19 strikeouts, 0 walks and only 2 hits allowed (both singles) in those 7.1 innings pitched … Starting with his last batter faced on 9/22/22 vs ATL, Alvarado has struck out 20 of the last 25 batters he has faced (80.0%), and in doing so, has joined Josh Hader (21 of 25, 9/3-21/18) as the only two relief pitchers in the expansion era to strikeout 20+ in a 25-batter span.
WELCOME BACK, JEAN: Prior to today’s game, former Phillie Jean Segura will be presented with his 2022 National League Championship ring … Segura spent four seasons with the Phillies (2019-22) and hit .281 with a .755 OPS over 427 games … In Game 1 of last year’s NL Wild Card Series against the Cardinals, Segura capped off a Phillies comeback with a 2-run , game-winning single on Oct. 8 at Busch Stadium … Per Elias, Segura had played in 1,328 career regular season games before debuting in the postseason – there are only three other players in MLB history with as many regular season games played who collected the game winning RBI in their first career postseason game: Carlos Delgado (1,711 games, 2006 NLDS Game 1 vs LAD), Ted Kluszewski (1,530 games, 1959 World Series Game 1 vs LAD) and Nick Markakis (1,365 games, 2014 ALDS Game 1 vs DET).
BBCIB: Tonight, Garrett Stubbs is scheduled to make his second start of the 2023 season … Since being acquired by the Phillies from the Astros on November 19, 2021 in exchange for OF Logan Cerny, Stubbs has started 33 games for the Phillies and is slashing .272/.348/.466 with an .814 OPS in 33 starts … Last season, Stubbs ranked 7th among 84 qualified catchers with an average pop time of 1.91 seconds from home to second base (best: Realmuto, 1.82 seconds).
NEW TONIGHT, AT (THE) 6: On 12/8/22, the Phillies signed SS Trea Turner to an 11-year contract, taking him through the 2033 season … Last year with LAD, Turner was selected as an All-Star for the second time in his career, was named All-MLB First Team and won his first career Louisville Silver Slugger Award after slashing .298/.343/.466 with a 121 OPS+ and 27 steals in 30 attempts … Per Statcast, his average sprint speed of 30.3 feet per second ranked 5th out of 582 qualified players … In 2021, Turner led the majors in AVG (.328) and hits (195), led the NL in stolen bases (32) and total bases (319) and posted a career-best 6.8 fWAR (FanGraphs) which ranked 3rd among all ML position players
TONIGHT’S STARTER – MATT STRAHM • LHP #25
LAST START: 4/4 at NYY: ND, 4.0 IP, H, BB, 3 SO … Strahm vs German … The Phillies defeated the New York Yankees, 4-1, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx … Kyle Schwarber blasted a 415-foot home run in the 1st inning and Brandon Marsh followed with a 436-foot shot in the 3rd … Andrew Bellatti (1.0 IP, 2 SO), Jose Alvarado (1.0 IP, 3 SO) and Connor Brogdon (2.0 IP, 1 SO) made scoreless appearances in relief of Strahm.
TONIGHT’S START:
• Not As Hard As It Looks: Two turns through the rotation, Strahm, who made his first start on 4/4 at NYY since August 2021, remains the only Phillie with a scoreless start this season, and has allowed the fewest baserunners (2) by an Phillie in a start in 2023
• Like Riding a Bike: Strahm is making consecutive starts for the first time since 6/26-7/2/19, the end of a streak of 15 straight starts for the lefty … Since then, 105 of his 108 appearances have been in relief
• Reverse Splits: 16 of the 17 batters Strahm faced in his debut were RHH … They went 1-for-15, BB, 4 SO … In his career, RHH are slashing .225/294/.389 as opposed to LHH slash line of .249/.327/.497 … Dating back to 9/11/22, the 44 RHH he has faced are hitting only .132/.250/.211 with 14 SO
• Welcome Aboard: Strahm is in his first year of a two-year contract with the Phillies after signing with the club as a free agent in December
• vs NL East: 3-2, 3.88 ERA (20 ER, 46.1 IP) in 22 games (6 starts)
HOME:
• 2022: 3-1, SV, 3.16 ERA (9 ER, 25.2 IP) in 25 relief appearances
• Career: 8-10, SV, 3.87 ERA (63 ER, 146.1 IP) in 96 relief appearances (9 starts)
• CBP: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (3.1 IP) in 3 relief appearances
2022 SEASON:
• Spent season with BOS as a relief pitcher
• Posted a 1.88 ERA (3 ER, 14.1 IP) over his first 17 appearances and a 2.95 ERA (13 ER, 39.2 IP) over his first 45 • On COVID-related IL, 5/30-31
• On injured list with a left wrist contusion, 7/13-8/18; included rehab assignment to Worcester (AAA)
• Averaged 10.48 SO/9.0 IP (52 SO, 44.2 IP)
• Surrendered just one home run to the 57 LHH he faced
