Phillies (6-6) vs Marlins (8-4) Preview - philliesfan136's Dynasty

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Phillies (6-6) vs Marlins (8-4) Preview

Posted on July 5, 2011 at 10:07 PM.

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PHILADELPHIA-The Phils' head home after a brief string of 6 road games, in which they took two of three from the Braves and one of three from the Nationals, resulting in a 3-3 record. They dropped to 6-6 on the season, and after the Phillies 2-0 loss in the final of three games against the Nationals, GM Nick Puleo acknowledged there proabably won't be too many changes to start off the season:

"Are we disappointed that we're under .500? Yeah, sure. But does that mean we have to ship off someone who's struggling? I don't know that we're gonna jump on guys this early in the season. Could you see a few moves by the end of the month? Maybe, if we see a guy who could help us out. I think you'll see more moves by the draft or the All-Star break, where we can better assess who will fit the team and who won't." "That's around the time where you'll know who is part of our future plans."

For now, it looks like the Phillies will roll with what they've got and hope they do well.

Meanwhile, the Marlins have done pretty well coming into the team's first meeting with the Phillies, maintaining competitiveness(1/2 game back) with the first-place Mets. They've seen some nice outings from the top of the rotation by Josh Johnson (3 GS,2-1, 2.66 ERA,21 K) and Ricky Nolasco (3 GS, 1-1, 2.45 ERA, 16 K), while the bottom third has been interchangeable. One of the bottom third in the Marlins' current rotation is Anibal Sanchez, who will start in the opener of this series. He'll be opposed by two-time All-Star Roy Oswalt. Let's look at the stats for both pitchers as they each make their third starts of the season:

Phillies vs Marlins: Tale of the Tape
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RHP Roy Oswalt
This season: 2 GS,16 IP,1-1,3.38 ERA,10 K,5 BB,6 R, .172 BAA
Last start: 4/9 vs Braves:8.2 IP,2 R,6 K (W 4-2)

VS

RHP Anibal Sanchez
This season: 2 GS,11.2 IP,1-0,3.09 ERA,8 K,11 B,4 R,.233 BAA
Last start: 4/9 vs Astros: 7 IP,2 R,4 BB,4 SO (W 3-2)

Oswalt and Sanchez both pitched last on the 9th of April, and effectively, as they each allowed only 2 runs and pitched into the late innings .Both of the pitchers gained a win from their most recent starts, though their teams lost in their first starts of the season, Oswalt allowing 4 runs and walking four in a 6-3 loss to his former team, the Astros, and Sanchez taking the no-decision after allowing 2 runs through 4 and walking 7 2/3 innings against the Mets.
One stat to look out for is that Sanchez is sporting a unimpressive 0.73 K/BB (8 K,11 BB) so far this season.

With a few injuries to important players such as Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison, the perfect time for the Phillies to get back on track is now. One of the reasons the Marlins are keeping competitive so far even with some injuries is the efficiency of the pitching and other Marlins hitters such as Gaby Sanchez, who is hitting .327 with 3 bombs and 11 RBI and 7 runs scored, and Hanley Ramirez, who is hitting a nice .273 with a pair of homers and stolen bases as well as 4 runs batted in.
The Marlins are without their main power source in Mike Stanton, so Roy Oswalt is mainly pitching to contact here. The Marlins are relying on Hanley and Gaby Sanchez to score most of their runs.

For the Phillies, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard have been irreplaceable, Utley especially, who has been lighting up pitching to the tune of a .438 average with 7 homers, 13 RBI, and a few stolen bases as well. Domonic Brown has lived up to his potential so far this season, as advertised, a good contact hitter who can get on base (.366 AVG., .458 OBP) and has speed (5 2B, 7 R). Here's the rest of the Phillies lineup as well as the Marlins':

Starting Lineups
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Phillies
Jimmy Rollins SS
Placido Polanco 3B
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Dom Brown RF
Ben Francisco LF
John Mayberry Jr. CF
Carlos Ruiz C
Roy Oswalt P

VS

Marlins
Emilio Bonifacio 3B
Omar Infante 2B
Hanley Ramirez SS
Gaby Sanchez 1B
John Buck C
Chris Coghlan CF
Dewayne Wise RF
Alex Romero LF
Anibal Sanchez P

Summary
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The middle of the order in Utley,Howard,and Brown are batting really well to start this season, and they could keep it going against Sanchez. Roy Oswalt has to take advantage of a lineup without Mike Stanton. The only other power sources are Hanley Ramirez and (somewhat) Gaby Sanchez and John Buck. The rest of the lineup is mainly contact hitters (Coghlan, Infante, Bonifacio).
If the Phillies get Oswalt some runs, they'll probably win this one.