MLB Preview: Miami Marlins (64-62) at San Diego Padres (60-66)

MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:

MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins today continue a six-game, two-stop road trip with the second of three games at the Padres. The trip began with a three-game series at the Dodgers that saw Miami drop two of three, including both legs of a doubleheader on Saturday due to the impending effects of Hurricane Hilary.

• Following this series, will head home for a two-series homestand against Washington (Fri-Sun) and Tampa Bay (TuesWeds) with two days off.

FISH BYTES

• Miami ranks 3rd in the NL with a .260 batting average (5th in the Majors), behind Washington (.260), Boston (.262), Texas (.270), and Atlanta (.274) and ranks 2nd in the NL with 1,114 hits behind only Atlanta (1,161).
• The Marlins offense has struck out 1,004 times this year, the 6th-lowest total in MLB, behind Cleveland (869), Washington (886), Arizona (979), Houston (992), and New York-NL (997). The last time the Marlins ranked in the top 10 in the Majors in strikeouts was 2017 (10th).
• The Marlins pitching staff leads the National League with 1,184 strikeouts (2nd most in Majors behind MIN-1,193).

FACING OFF
The Marlins return to Petco Park this week, where they took 1 of 4 last year but are 27-34 all-time against the Padres here. Overall, Miami is 102-113 against San Diego, including dropping 2 of 3 in their matchup earlier this year at loanDepot park.

ELITE OF THE ELITE
Miami’s Luis Arraez and San Diego’s Juan Soto are the only two qualified hitters in Major League Baseball that have walked more than they have struck out since the 2020 season, with Arraez posting a 1.02 BB/K ratio and Soto leading the pack with a 1.32 BB/K ratio. Houston’s Alex Bregman (0.99), Cleveland’s Steven Kwan (0.95), and Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk (0.95) round out the top 5.

• Arraez since 2020 owns MLB’s highest batting avg. at .323.

YESTERDAY’S RECAP
The Marlins dropped the series opener at San Diego, 6-2. Spot starter LHP Ryan Weathers ran into trouble early, walking three straight Padres hitters at the bottom of the order before surrending a grand slam to their leadoff hitter in the 2nd inning. Weathers finished his second Marlins appearance charged with 5 runs on 5 hits with 5 walks and 4 strikeouts. RHP Bryan Hoeing entered in relief to go 4.2 innings and allow 1 run on 2 hits to save the Marlins bullpen. 1B Josh Bell (2×4) and 3B Jake Burger (2×3) each added multi-hit games and scored a run.

RING THE BELL
1B Josh Bell has homered 7 times in his first 18 games as a Marlin, tied with Charles Johnson in 2001 for the second-most homers in a player’s first 18 games with the club, behind only Hee-Seop Choi (8, 2004). Per @SlangsOnSports, Bell’s 7 homers are the most for a Marlin whose first 18 games came outside of April.

• Bell is hitting .300 (21×70) through 18 games since joining the Marlins, reaching base safely in 17 of 18 including 12 consecutive to start his tenure in Miami. It marked the second longest on-base streak by a Marlins’ mid-season acquisition behind only Gary Sheffield (13 G, 1993) – Elias Sports Bureau.

JAKE THE RAKE
3B Jake Burger is riding a career-long 12-game hitting streak which is also tied for the longest-active streak in MLB with Tommy Pham. Over this span, Burger is hitting .457 (21×46) with 6 doubles, 1 home run, and 9 RBI with 6 multi-hit games (includes three 3-hit efforts, tied for his career-high).

• His .457 clip is the highest among all qualified MLB hitters since Aug. 8, when his hitting streak began. His 1.152 OPS in this span in the fourth-best mark behind ATL’s Eddie Rosario (1.158), LAD’s Mookie Betts (1.232), and DET’s Spencer Torkelson (1.412).
• Burger’s .373 AVG since joining the club is the 3rd-highest mark for any Marlin through their first 18 games with the franchise, behind only Luis Arraez earlier this year (.438) and Bruce Aven (.406) in 1999.

FALSE STARTS
Miami has dropped 7 of its last 8 series openers on the road, going 16-25 in the first game of a series this year. Own a a combined 45-34 record in games two and three.

ON DECK
Of Miami’s remaining 36 games, 18 are against teams currently in postseason position (50%).

GREAT SCOTT
Marlins reliever LHP Tanner Scott leads all National League relievers with 81 strikeouts (5th in MLB) and his 26 multi-strikeout appearances also lead the National League and are the tied for the fifth-most such outings in baseball.

• Is 9 strikeouts shy of his career-high 90 strikeouts in 2022 which rank as the 3rd-most strikeouts by a reliever in club history. Only Robb Nen (92, 1996) and Kyle Barraclough (113, 2016) have struck out more batters in relief.

BABY GOAT GOES HOLLYWOOD
Marlins rookie Eury Perez struck out a career-high 10 batters during Game 1 of the doubleheader on Saturday, becoming the youngest pitcher (20-162) to record double-digit strikeouts in a game since Seattle’s Felix Hernandez (19-129) struck out 11 batters on Aug. 15, 2005 vs. the Royals.

• He became just the 8th Marlins pitcher (9th occurrence) to strike out 10+ Dodgers’ hitters in a game and the first since Sandy Alcantara struck out 10 in his complete game vs. LAD on Aug. 27, 2022 at loanDepot park. Perez is only the 2nd pitcher in Marlins history to accomplish the feat at Dodger Stadium, joining Trevor Richards on April 25, 2018.

HOME OF BÉISBOL
Attendance at loanDepot park is up nearly 25% through the first 64 home games compared to the 2022 season. The Marlins are coming off the largest attended series in ballpark history, when they hosted a total of 100,001 fans at the three game set vs. the Yankees last weekend. Last year’s attendance total (907,487) is expected to be surpassed during the next Marlins home game.

STARTING PITCHER – #44 JESUS LUZARDO

• Jesus Luzardo, 25, will make his 26th start of the season today. Marks his fourth career start against the San Diego Padres.
• Last faced San Diego on June 1, 2023 at loanDepot park. Tossed 5.1 innings and allowed 5 runs on 4 hits (1 home run) and 1 walk. Struck out 8.
• In his most recent start on Aug. 16 vs. Houston, allowed 6 runs (5 earned) on 8 hits (3 home runs) and 3 walks with 3 strikeouts.
• His 160 strikeouts this season leads the Marlins; ranks ninth-best in the NL and 16th in MLB.
• 12 of his starts this year have been quality starts, the most among Marlins starters and is tied for the fifth-most among left-handed pitchers in MLB (last, July 23 vs. Colorado).
• Has struck out at least 8 batters in 10 starts this season; is the second-most such starts in the NL (behind Spencer Strider, ATL – 20).
• His 10.5 SO/9 ranks second among left-handed NL starters (min. 100 IP), behind SD’s Blake Snell – 11.8.
• Is 4-4 this season at loanDepot park with a 3.69 ERA (85.1/35) in 15 starts and 4-4 with a 4.85 ERA (52.0/28) in 10 starts away.
• Left-handed batters are hitting .212 (24×113) vs. Luzardo this season with 3 home runs and a .627 OPS while right-handed batters are hitting .269 (112×417) with 18 home runs and an .805 OPS.

SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:

Ha-Seong Kim hits his 1st-career grand slam as Padres route Marlins to open the series

• In the 2nd inning, Ha-Seong Kim hit an 0-2 pitch from Ryan Weathers into the left field bleachers for his 1st-career grand slam…Kim also doubled, scored twice, and stole a base…San Diego also saw a home run from Manny Machado.
• Michael Wacha got tthe start, going 5.1 innings of 1-run ball (a home run)…he allowed 5 hits and 2 walks with 7 punchouts. • Postgame on Monday, Manager Bob Melvin announced that Seth Lugo would get the start on Wednesday vs. Miami in lieu of Rich Hill, and Hill would serve out of the ‘pen.

Padres in a stretch of playing 19 games in 20 days

• Tonight’s game will be the 18th game of the Padres playing 19 games in 20 days…their sole scheduled off day in the span from August 4-23 was on August 10, and August 19th was an off day following Saturday’s double header due to Hurricane Hilary.
• They’re also in a stretch of playing 32 games in 34 days (from August 4-September 6).

The race is on

• The Padres are 5.5 games back in the NL Wild Card race, behind the D-Backs (-0.5 games back), Reds (-1.0 GB) Marlins (-1.5), and the Cubs, Giants, and Phillies. Ha-Seong Kim’s 6.0 WAR among position players is 3rd highest in MLB
• Per Baseball Reference WAR for position players, Ha-Seong Kim’s 6.0 WAR ranks 3rd in all of baseball, behind Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 6.2 and Mookie Betts’ 6.5.
• Today is the Ha-Seong Kim bobblehead night, and in a pregame ceremony, he’ll be honored as the Padres’ representative for the 2023 Heart & Hustle Award. Bumpday: MLB’s ERA leader, Blake Snell, gets the rock
• Blake Snell enters today’s matchup as MLB’s ERA leader (2.65), and in his last outing, he got the win over the Orioles, reaching the double-digit win plateau for the 2nd time in his career and his 1st since he posted 21 winning decisions in his Cy Young 2018 season.

Who’s hot?

• Manny Machado has homered 3 times in as many games, and he’s gone 4-for-11 in that time with 4 RBI…Machado’s 15 homers hit since July 1 tie for the most in the National League with Pete Alonso and Matt Olson.
• Fernando Tatis Jr. has hit .317 in his last 11 games (13-for-41) with 2 doubles, a homer, and 5 RBI since August 11.
• Ha-Seong Kim’s .286 average since August 1 is the highest on the team, and his 22 hits in that time also lead the club (22-for-77).
• Who’s not?
• While Fernando Tatis Jr. has hit .317 in his last 11 games, he’s also gone hitless in his last 3 games, going 0 for his last 10.
• In Juan Soto’s last 15 games, he has hit just .143 (8-for-56) with 1 double, a triple and 0 homers.
• In Xander Bogaerts’ last 8 games, he has just 5 hits, batting .172 (5-for29) with 2 RBI.

STARTING PITCHER – #4 BLAKE SNELL
MLB’s ERA leader set for 6th career start vs. MIA
The 30-year-old left-hander enters today’s matchup as MLB’s ERA leader (2.65) and is 1 of 3 qualifying ML hurlers with a sub-.200 opp. AVG (.194, 3rd) — also: Shohei Ohtani (.185 AVG, 1st) and Corbin Burnes (.193 AVG, 2nd)…he’ll face the Marlins for the 2nd time this season (also: May 31 @ loanDept Park), when he tossed 6.0 shutout innings of 3-hit ball… prior to that start, he had allowed at least 1 ER in all 10 of his starts to begin the campaign… including that May 31 start, he’s gone 9-2 with a 1.26 ERA, allowing 3 ER-of-fewer in all 15, including 2 ER-or-fewer in 14 of the 15, 1-or-fewer in 11 of the 15 and 0 ER in 8 of the 15.

Snell earns 10th win of campaign last Wed vs. BAL
In his last outing, Snell faced the Orioles for the first time as a member of the Padres and for the first time since the shortened 2020 campaign w/ TB, reaching the double-digit win plateau for the 2nd time and his first since he posted 21 winning decisions in his Cy Young 2018 season…tonight vs MIA, he’ll aim for his 3rd consecutive winnig decision for the first time since he won 3 straight last season July 23-Aug 3 (@ NYM, vs. MIN & vs. COL).

Shutouts/Punchouts/Quality Starts/100+ Pitch Outings
Snell has posted 8 outings w/ 0 ER allowed across 5.0+ frames – the most such starts in the Majors…all 8 of those starts have come in his 15 outings since May 31…he’s eclipsed the 100 pitch plateau 13 times this season, T-2nd most 100+ pitch outings this season w/ 4 others… he’s posted quality outings in 10 of his last 16 outings since May 25, having his quality start streak snapped at a career-high-tying 6 in a row on July 3 vs. LAA…he’s punched out 10+ of 5 occasions this season…since 2018, his 28 double-digit strikeout games are most among all ML left-handers, ahead of Chris Sale (27) and Robbie Ray (26).

Leader of the pack since May 25
Among all qualifying pitchers since May 25, Snell ranks 1st in ERA (1.29 – next closest is Jordan Montgomery’s 2.26 ERA), opp. AVG (.165), and H/9 IP (5.04)…he also ranks 2nd in total strikeouts (128), SO/9 IP (12.66), opponent OPS (.520) and 3rd in FIP (2.93).

When it matters most
With RISP, opponents are hitting .164 (19-116) and with RISP/ 2 out, they are hitting .096 (5-for-52)…in his 14 bases loaded situations, opponents are hitting .077 (1-13) with 1 BB.

Longest scoreless streak by Friar SP since 2010
Snell posted a career-high 22.0 consecutive scoreless innings across parts of 5 starts from June 28-July 20…it was longest scoreless-inning streak by a Padre SP since Kevin Correia’s 23.1 consecutive scoreless IP in ’09.