As we move into July this weekend, three stories to watch around the game:
1. NL East showdown:
The Marlins finished off a three-game sweep of the Red Sox yesterday, riding 6 1/3 scoreless innings from Jesús Luzardo to an eventual 2-0 victory. The Fish have taken five straight to move a season-high 14 games above .500. They remain in possession of the top Wild Card spot in the National League and four games clear of the Phillies, the closest non-playoff team.
Miami carries that strong form to Atlanta, where they’ll take on a Braves club riding a five-game win streak of their own. Atlanta is six games up on the Marlins and a strong favorite to take the NL East. Miami hasn’t shown any signs of fading yet, though, setting the stage for an interesting three-game set. Miami will turn to Bryan Hoeing in game one; Atlanta hasn’t yet announced a starter but is generally expected to recall Mike Soroka after optioning Jared Shuster to Triple-A.
2. Carroll day-to-day:
D-Backs outfielder Corbin Carroll left yesterday’s loss to the Rays due to soreness in his right shoulder. The NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner lost most of the 2021 minor league season after undergoing surgery on the same shoulder. Testing postgame fortunately did not reveal any structural or strength issues and Carroll is listed as day-to-day (link via Steve Gilbert of MLB.com). The first-time All-Star acknowledged the soreness initially “shook (him) up pretty good,” so the early results are certainly a relief. Carroll is already among the best players in the league, hitting .290/.366/.559 with 17 home runs as a 22-year-old.
3. Bryant to return?
The Rockies have been without Kris Bryant since May 30 due a left heel contusion. Plantar fasciitis in the same foot had wrecked the majority of his first season in Colorado. It seems he’s on the verge of a return, as manager Bud Black told reporters he was likely to be reinstated from the 10-day injured list for this weekend’s series against the Tigers (relayed by Patrick Lyons of DNVR). The former MVP only needed one rehab outing with Triple-A Albuquerque before feeling equipped to jump back into MLB action. He’s hitting .263/.346/.374 over 50 games on the year.
Best wishes, Kris!
MLBTR, his name is Michael Soroka. Did you not get the memo?
Glad the Cubs let you go. Injured more than he is on the field. And when he is on the field, he hasn’t done very well. Enjoy him Colorado!!
Anyone predict the Marlins to be winning in 2023. Especially how the have gone about It????
I had them as a wild card team.
I did too. That pitching is super solid. They add a bat and a bullpen arm and I think they could make some real noise. Now I didn’t see them in second in the NLE this late in the season that’s for sure.
I had the Marlins and Phillies fighting for the last WC spot. I still may be right on that one, but I was definitely wrong about the Mets.
I had them winning the East back in January.
mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/mlbtr-poll-the-nl-east-…
Let’s go, Marlins!
I had them 14 games above .500 and 4 games clear of the closest wildcard contender on June 30, 2023.
I predicted an 80 win season. Anything more is fantastic.
Its still too early in the season and Braves still own the Fish (everyone for that matter) but i’m loving the team chemistry and confidence. Fish desperately need one impact bat and either an innings eating SP or late inning RP to help for the stretch run.
Should be a fun 3 gm series and 2nd half of the year.
Yes, and did anyone have the D-Backs on top of the NL West?
Me.
And the Marlins are doing it with a even run differential.
Some credit due to GM Ng? Marlins we’re getting a lot of run on this website last season. Many, including myself, critical of her efforts to get the roster healthy. I’m officially eating crow.
On paper there are 3 better teams in that division.
Someone is doing something special there.
Luckily the game isn’t played on paper.
@slidepiece I actually think the Marlins are very good on paper as well. All they needed were some bats, and they got them this offseason.
And 2 of them have spent combined over $500 million on “superstar” contracts to be looking up in the standings at them. One has the highest payroll in MLB history and is a total dumpster fire
@Rsox it’s fun to make fun of the highest payrolls, but there is absolutely a direct correlation to spending and winning records. The Braves and Marlins both increased payroll. The Braves are still a top 10 payroll in the league. The Phillies, had a monster June and are only 1.5 games out of the playoffs at the moment. Their spending may payoff in the longrun.
The Mets are a disaster, but they spent on older players intentionally not giving up any prospects. Cohen is a freak of nature. He’s not the norm. The Mets are rebuilding while spending more money than anyone on the plant.
People laugh at the Mets now and for good reason, but the Mets have always been a sleeping giant even more so now under Cohen.
*planet
Lmao, more like a comatose giant at this point.
You should have stopped after the first five words
There is no direct correlation between spending and winning, considering there are different ways of spending which have to be taken into account because they’re not all the same. People love to look at the payrolls of the Astros and Braves and point out that they are spending, but no one pays attention to the fact most of that spending was on paying their own guys, as opposed to going out and spending a half a billion on other teams used goods like the Mets did.
The 3 the best teams in June all in the same division. Also the worst team for the month was also in that division. Baseball is wild.
Wow. Apologies for my typing. The three best teams in June are all in the same division, as is the team with the worst record in June. Huzzah. I did it.
Good job!
You went from Helen back to VonPurple Hayes in one corrective post!
Schumacher has done an unreal job so far. I had Marlins as a 75 win team. His handling of there pitching staff has been unreal. I do think there offense still has a lot of issues and we will see if Soler has anywhere near as good a second half. I think Marlins are now in the hunt for a wild card spot but not willing to guarantee it just yet. You currently have 8 teams in NL above five hundred and many of them will be very aggressive at the trade deadline. Shaping up to be a very surprising and entertaining 2023 NL race. Love seeing two huge payroll teams (Mets and Padres) being sellers at trade deadline
Haven’t seen too many complaints about Ng lately.
Marlins are biggest sellers when it comes to pitching. Take note trade rumor writers of all sorts. You picking teams to sell that are in contention is stale. Marlins will trade from surplus pitching for need in hitting.
Trade reds for CES for Garrett
@big whiffa
Marlins would do that trade but I highly doubt Reds sign off.
I’m not sold on the Marlins. I believe the Phillies will overtake them eventually. My half season prediction for the NL East at the end of the season goes. Braves 1st. Phillies 2nd. Marlins 3rd. Mets 4th. Nationals of course in last place.
Balanced schedule has definitely helped smaller market teams in NL/AL East divisions stay in the playoff hunt longer.
Yes. And it emphasized how bad the central divisions are in both leagues. I’m speaking about this year only, not historically. Quite frankly, it’s a shame an AL Central team is going to make the playoffs.
Michael Soroka. Chop on. Go Braves!
Glad to see Bryant is getting close to his return so he can get hurt again and not play for two months then him and the team will say it’s to late in the year to play now and risk yet another injury plus we are out of contention anyway so we will just start off next year with a healthy Kris Bryant.
Same team that paid to get rid of Nolan……