The Pittsburgh Pirates play host to the Miami Marlins on Friday evening from PNC Park. In the first game back from the All-Star break for both sides, they both will be aiming to get the second half started in an impressive way and try to build some momentum towards a playoff push. The two have already met four times this season, splitting a four-game series in Miami just earlier this month. Now that the series shifts to Pittsburgh, it will be interesting to see if that changes the outlook of this one.
The Marlins don't quite find themselves at the bottom of the NL East standings but it's going to take an impressive second-half run to work themselves back into playoff positioning. Before the All-Star break, they limped to a 4-6 finish over their last ten games, and now that they have to hit the road, where they have a 21-26 record overall, things don't appear to be getting any easier for this group. What they do have working in their favor is some confidence and momentum against the Pirates though, after beating them twice in a row to finish up their series just a week ago. With a nice set of games coming up against the Reds over the next few weeks, some wins this weekend could start a nice run for this group.
From an injury standpoint, being without Jazz Chishlm Jr. (back) continues to be a problem on both sides of things, while Jon Berti (groin) remains out as well. Adding to that is the absence of fou r relievers and a bullpen that was already thin when the season started, continues to trend in that direction as the weekend starts.
Our All-Star about to put on a SHOW pic.twitter.com/SA5K4b1s69
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 15, 2022
According to MLB.com, Braxton Garrett will be getting the ball for the Marlins as he looks to get them started with a strong outing on Friday. The lefty hasn't shown to be too impressive from a record standpoint, where he sits at 1-3, but his 3.70 ERA tells another story. Against Pittsburgh last weekend, he went six innings, allowing only two hits and no runs, a performance which he'll be aiming to replicate this go-around.
It's no surprise that the Marlins have struggled offensively this season and without their best bat going forward, they'll need to find production in other areas. They rank in the bottom third of baseball in nearly every offensive category, peaking at 18th in the league in home runs. Chisholm Jr. has led the way in home runs (14) and RBI (45) this season, with quite a bit now falling on Garrett Cooper (.282 average, .347 OBP) to lead the way. With the long ball being their way of finding success, it c ould be hit or miss for them on Friday.