San Diego Padres Series Preview: Friars Host Fish at Petco Park
Credit: MLB
The San Diego Padres will host the Miami Marlins at Petco Park for a three-game series that will run from Friday, May 31 to Sunday, June 2.
The Friars are coming off losing two of three games against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, but this is a very good opportunity to bounce back.
The Miami Marlins are arguably the worst team in baseball, currently with the worst record in the National League at 19-35. The Fish are coming off winning two of three games against the San Francisco Giants, but are still struggling heavily this year.
The Florida-based team has the lowest home run tally in the MLB along with the worst slugging percentage in the National League and the second-worst batting average and OBP in the NL. Miami’s offense has been holding the team down as the pitching has been decent and is the saving grace of the team.
The Padres are currently just a game back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card and have a golden opportunity to gain some ground in this series. The Friars have a much better team and will inclusively have the home-field advantage at Petco Park.
Several players including Franmil Reyes and Manny Machado had woeful series in New York and need to get back on track. Other players like Ian Kinsler and Wil Myers continue their bad form and can also take advantage of this weekend series at Petco Park.
Pitching Matchups
Game 1 (Friday, May 31 – 7:10 P.M. PST) Joey Lucchesi (3-3, 4.25 ERA) vs. Caleb Smith (3-2, 3.05 ERA)
Game 2 (Saturday, June 1 – 7:10 P.M. PST) TBD vs. Jose Urena (3-6, 4.11 ERA)
Game 3 (Sunday, June 2 – 3:05 P.M. PST) Matt Strahm (2-4, 3.21 ERA) vs. Trevor Richards (2-5, 3.82 ERA)
There will be some intriguing pitching matchups throughout this series as the Marlins have some decent hurlers that can hold their own. The most interesting matchup is arguably between Trevor Richards and Matt Strahm in the final gamer of the series.
Both Strahm and Richards have been improving progressively as the season has gone on and this can result in a very low-scoring game. Richards posted a very impressive 2.86 ERA in five starts in May while Strahm is coming off a solid start against the Yankees, where he posted a season-high ten strikeouts.
Players to Watch
Harold Ramirez has been impressive in his first 15 games with the Fish, but Jorge Alfaro has arguably been the Marlins’ best player throughout the season. The Colombian catcher leads Miami with eight home runs and also has the best slugging percentage and second-best OBP on the team with players that have played over 15 games.
Hosmer is one of the only Padres’ players that did not struggle heavily against the Yankees as he went 4-for-13 in the series with three RBI. Hoz had a spectacular month of May as he closes out the month batting .347/.385/.495 with four home runs and 15 RBI.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.