Atlanta’s Bats Will Wake Up This Weekend Against The Marlins

After making the MLB Playoffs last season, the Miami Marlins had high hopes for this season. Unfortunately, Miami is just 2-11 to start the season, and those expectations have significantly dropped in just two weeks.

It’ll likely only get harder from here. The Marlins have a three-game series against one of the National League’s best teams, the Atlanta Braves. While the Braves are only 7-4 on the season, they should get on a run any time now.

A three-game series against a two-win team will likely help Atlanta build up their confidence again after a series loss to the New York Mets at home over the week.

That said, check out our full Braves vs Marlins series preview for this National League East weekend-long series.

Sean Murphy’s Update

The Braves might be 7-4, but they’re not at full strength. Sean Murphy, the team’s starting catcher, suffered an oblique injury on Opening Day and had to put him on the Injured List immediately following the season’s first game.

Murphy’s status has been updated while he won’t be back for this three-game series against the Marlins.

According to David O’Brien, an Atlanta beat reporter, Murphy has begun walking on the treadmill. He’s still not sprinting or hitting, but there’s some real progress to report.

Jake Burger’s Hot Start

The Miami Marlins added Jake Burger at last year’s MLB Trade Deadline for their run at the playoffs. Not only did Burger help the Marlins make the playoffs, but he’s also become the cornerstone player for this year’s team.

Despite the Marlins’ recent struggles, Burger has been the bright spot. On Wednesday, Burger smashed a three-run homer, which was the difference against the Yankees in a 5-2 win. That pushed the Marlins into their second win of the season.

Braves vs Marlins Series Preview & Odds For Game 1: RL: Braves -1.5 (-110) ML: Braves -179, O/U 8.5 -110/-110.

The Braves will begin the three-game series in Miami with Max Fried. Fried has thrown in two games, yet he’s only pitched in five innings. While he’s added six strikeouts, Fried also has a WHIP of 3.20 after allowing 12 hits and four walks in six innings.

If he can get out of the first inning against an inferior Miami squad, Fried should be able to turn things around. He’s typically super consistent. Last year, Fried held 334 batters to a .107 ISO and wOBA of .292 with 58% of ground balls. He’ll likely find his groove again.

Meanwhile, Trevor Rogers will get the call for the Marlins. He’s had a rough start to the year against righties, allowing a .402 wOBA thanks to 18.2% of walks to righties this year. He’s also struck out just 9.1% of righties and 33.3% of line drives.

Atlanta is usually very good against lefties. The projected lineup should have at least seven batters who have hit an ISO of at least .216 against lefties since last season. Michael Harris is ultimately the lone everyday player who hasn’t hit for power against lefties.

Against righties, the Marlins have struggled to hit a wOBA of more than .300 against lefties. This is why the Marlins have just two wins coming into this game. Back the Braves on the run line in Game 1. The baseball betting lines have the Braves at -1.5 (-110). We like those odds for Atlanta in Game 1 of the Braves vs Marlins series preview.

In Game 2, the Braves will stick with another lefty, Chris Sale. Sale has added 31% of strikeouts and only walked 4.8% of batters through the start of the season. Sale has also added 53.8% of ground balls, but he has still struggled a little bit with his first eight lefties this season. Still, he won’t see many lefties in the Miami lineup since he’s a lefty.

On the other hand, the Marlins will counter with Max Meyer. Meyer had always been at the top of the MLB prospect rankings before being called up into the Majors. The young right-hander has a 2.45 ERA to start the season after allowing just a .237 wOBA to his first 41 batters faced. Meyer, a right-hander, has earned 58.1% of ground balls this season but only 17.1% of strikeouts and has given up a .211 ISO.

Meyer is pitching well, but not as well as his 2.45 ERA would suggest.

The Braves are just as good against righties. Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, and Michael Harris have all hit against righties consistently since last season. However, strikeouts will get high for some of those batters at times against righties.

Miami’s lineup doesn’t compare to Atlanta’s. The Marlins only have Jake Burger and Jazz Chisholm, who have hit good numbers against righties since last year. But none of the other guys have hit for power in that projected lineup against righties. The Braves should win this one, too, and although lines aren’t out yet, this will eventually be one of our MLB free picks of the day.

To finish out the weekend-long series, Charlie Morton will get the ball. Mortons struggled, allowing 14.9% of walks. However, he’s still got a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 innings. Morton has also watched lefties hit a .182 ISO and wOBA of .428. It’s only a matter of time before Morton pays the price. It might not be this time since he’s facing a pathetic Marlins offense that has won just two games in their first 13.

Morton will duel Jesus Luzardo. Luzardo is a lefty who has walked over 14% of batters to begin the season. He has also given up an ISO of .333 and wOBA of .403 to his first 64 batters. These aren’t good numbers, especially against that Atlanta lineup.

This is ultimately another game that the Braves should win. A win would give Atlanta a three-game sweep per our Braves vs Marlins series preview.

Braves vs Marlins series preview

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