Series Preview: Marlins at Phillies, June 13 – 15

The 27-31 Miami Marlins are coming to town, but do not let their record deceive you. The Marlins always find a way to keep the Phillies on their toes whenever they meet. They took three of four from the Phils in April, but both of these teams have developed since then. Although the Phillies are trying to get above .500, the Marlins are prepared to do anything in their power to stop that from happening.

Last time they met

The Phillies and Marlins each played their third series of the season in Miami from April 14-17. The Phillies lost the first two of the series, but they came back to win game three. With a chance to split, the Phillies were embarrassed in an 11-3 loss to end the series. This was the series when the Phillies dropped below .500, and they were not able to resettle and surpass that mark until June 11.

The Marlins have also been playing good baseball over the past thirteen days. In their last twelve games, they are 8-4. They swept the Nationals at home, and they took two of three in Houston to start their nearly two-week-long road trip. The Marlins always have a solid rotation, but the emergence of prospects like Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jesus Sanchez has played a large role in their success. Sanchez filled the highlight reel last week when he smashed a 496-foot home run off Ryan Feltner of the Colorado Rockies.

Roster moves

Before Rob Thomson finalized the lineup card for Monday’s game, sources confirmed that the Phillies have designated right-handed reliever James Norwood for assignment. Norwood has struggled since blowing the Phillies’ six-run lead in the ninth inning against the Mets on May 5. To correspond with his designation, the Phillies recalled lefty Michael Kelly from the AAA Ironpigs. Kelly has not had a strong start to his season with Lehigh Valley, but he demonstrated how much movement his breaking balls can have in Spring Training. Kelly is not expected to see a lot of action out of the Phils’ bullpen.

Bohm and Castellanos’ struggles

In game one of this three-game series, both Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos will get the day off after a rough last few weeks.

At the beginning of the 2022 season, it seemed that Alec Bohm was invincible. Every time he was at the plate, the outcome always seemed to help the Phillies. Now, it seems that Alec Bohm is going back to his old ways. Coming into the series, he has an average of just .246. While power hitters like Rhys Hoskins and Kyle Schwarber could be playing at all-star-caliber levels with a batting average like that, this is not the case for Alec Bohm. Aside from his historic game-tying homer off of Josh Hader last week, he has provided nothing other than singles to the Phillies’ offense. Bohm’s downward trend has become clear, as he has a .410 OPS in his last fifteen games.

The Phillies signed Nick Castellanos with big expectations, but he has not yet come close to meeting them. Sixty games through the season, Castellanos has been the dictionary definition of an average MLB player. While average is not always a bad thing, it is not worth the $20 million being spent on him in 2022 alone. The Phillies’ 30-year-old four-hole hitter is slashing .251/.309/.405, which is exactly what you might expect from a seven-hole hitter on a team with similar expectations to the Phillies. Again, he certainly has not been bad, but he will need to make vast improvements if the Phillies would like to expand their season past the traditional 162.

With the absence of Castellanos and Bohm for Monday’s contest, Odubel Herrera will start in right field, and Matt Vierling will start at third base.

Pitching matchups

Game 1: Aaron Nola (RHP, 4-4, 3.5 ERA) vs. Sandy Alcantara (RHP, 6-2, 1.61 ERA)

Game 2: Zach Eflin (RHP, 2-4, 3.76 ERA) vs. Trevor Rogers (LHP, 3-5, 5.58 ERA)

Game 3: Kyle Gibson (RHP, 4-2, 4.41 ERA) vs. Pablo Lopez (RHP, 4-2, 2.3 ERA)

The numbers

• Run Differential:
• Phillies: 28
• Marlins: 23

• Runs Scored Per Game:
• Phillies: 4.82
• Marlins: 4.52

• Runs Allowed Per Game:
• Phillies: 4.35
• Marlins: 4.12

Game times and broadcasts

• Monday, June 13, at 7:05pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680, 94.1 WIP
• Tuesday, June 14, at 7:05pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680, 94.1 WIP
• Wednesday, June 15, at 1:05pm ET on MLB Network, NBC 10, WTTM 1680, 94.1 WIP

Game coverage will be available on Philly Sports Reports’ Twitter page.