Marlins Have the Perfect Opportunity to Get Their Offense Back on Track
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The Miami Marlins' nine-game losing streak has come at an incredibly difficult time in the season. Before the three-game series to end the first half of the season, they were riding high on a six-game winning streak and 10 games above .500. Entering Friday, Miami hasn't won a game in two weeks, but has a perfect opportunity to get back on track this weekend.
The Marlins host the San Diego Padres after the Thursday off day to begin a six-game road homestand. German Marquez will take the ball for the Padres. While Miami hasn't formally announced a starter for Thursday's contest, it's expected to be Ryan Gusto.
The Fish are entering this series with their heads down, but San Diego isn't exactly smoking hot either. The Padres are three games under .500, and 4-6 in their last 10 games, and fresh off nearly getting swept in a four-game set in Atlanta.
San Diego enters Friday's matchup with the 27th-worst starting pitcher ERA at 4.69, and Marquez is a big role player in it. The veteran righty owns a 5.24 ERA over 10 games this season. After a 10-season stretch in Colorado, he's struggled to capitalize on finally leaving the thin air in Denver.
After missing two months with forearm nerve inflammation, Marquez has a 4.20 ERA and averages just four innings a game through his last three starts.
The Marlins Need Length if Ryan Gusto is Given the Ball
If Gusto gets the start for the Fish, he'll likely begin a bullpen game. He hasn't thrown more than three innings since late June, but has pitched to a 3.86 ERA in July.
Miami gets another favorable matchup on Saturday against the lefty JP Sears. He owns a 4.38 ERA this season through just five starts at the big league level, but has pitched well this month. In the series finale on Sunday, Walker Buehler will get the ball for San Diego.
Buehler is a shell of his former self in Los Angeles, and this season has been no different. He owns a 5.23 ERA over 20 starts and has walked 40 batters in 94.2 innings. Best of all for the Marlins, his 11.88 July ERA is his worst of any month this season.
Miami's biggest problem of the last nine games has been the offense. The team has averaged just 2.5 runs a game through the historic stretch, compared to 4.3 the entire season.
One player who hasn't struggled during this stretch is Otto Lopez. The All-Star is batting .323 this month and still leads the league in hits and batting average.
If the Fish can take advantage of this poor pitching this weekend, they can finally get back on track. Sitting at just one game over .500, the season is far from over, but they must catch fire over the next week to prove that leadership should aggressively buy at the trade deadline on August 3.
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Jeffrey is a sports writer located in Louisville, Kentucky, with a passion for sports, writing, and storytelling. He has hundreds of published articles across various platforms, including Kentucky Today, The Baptist Courier, FanSided, and more. Jeffrey is a senior at Indiana University Southeast pursuing a B.S. in Journalism/Media with a Minor in Writing. He has a beautiful wife, dog, and firstborn child on the way.