Marlins Can Take Opener From Reds

Reds vs. Marlins, 6:40 ET

I am going to preface this entire article by saying there is a chance this game doesn't get played. There is a hurricane hitting Florida right now, and while I'm not sure how that is impacting Miami specifically, the entire state is getting at least rained on right now. With that in consideration, know this bet could be voided due to the game being called. If that's the case, I apologize, but I liked something about this game between the Reds and Marlins and thought it would be a good one to share.

The Reds are not out of playoff contention, but it isn't likely to happen. I think you can probably describe it like someone telling you "Maybe" when you request something. Sure, in theory, the possibility is there, but you know it isn't likely to happen even if the door has been left open a crack. If I am a Reds fan, I have a few reasons to view this season positively. They don't really have any dominant starting pitcher and their offense has been rough all season, but they still are just five games below .500. Tonight's opponent can be described similarly and they are 28 games below .500. The other thing about the Reds is that you can point to a specific stretch of baseball that really hurt them. From April 25th to May 23rd, they lost 20 baseball games, going 6-20 over that span. If you take that out of their record, they are 47-38, nine games above. You obviously can't just throw games out, but that large sample indicates the team should probably have gone 14-12 instead of 6-20. Regardless, the results are what they are. Tonight's starter is Nick Martinez. Martinez comes into the game making his sixth start of the season for the Reds. Over the season he has a 3.65 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. If he can keep these numbers as a starter, he will be a valuable rotation piece for the Reds. He has been better on the road for the club than he has at home, but he has made just one road start this season, so we will have to see if his relief appearances and starting splits matchup. He has faced the Marlins twice this season, going a total of four innings, allowing four hits and no walks or runs. 

The Marlins are not White Sox-bad, but they are pretty bad. They threw in the towel early on the season as they traded away their best hitter. Then later on in the year, they had Josh Bell playing very well for the club and they decided that it didn't make sense to have a player doing good things on their roster so they traded him away too. He was placed on waivers first, and then traded for a player-to-be-named later or cash, so clearly you can tell what the Marlins priorities are. There needs to be a rule in all sports that if your team loses for a set number of years, or is under payroll or something for a set number of years the team needs to be put for sale immediately. I understand the Marlins made the playoffs last season, and this is the cycle they go through, but can they at least pretend to try and field a sustainable winning team? Tonight, they put Roddery Munoz on the hill with his 2-5 record, 5.45 ERA, and 1.38 WHIP. In July, Munoz tossed 25 innings and allowed 15 earned runs. Almost half of them came in one game against the Orioles, and three games had him under three earned runs allowed, so there is some promise there. He hasn't faced anyone on the Reds, so he could have an opportunity to at least make the game a little tough on them to start. Batters are hitting just .227 against him the first time through the lineup. 

This is the case of a game where neither team truly benefits from winning. The Reds were somewhat sellers at the deadline, and the Marlins gave up a long time ago. However, I think the Marlins actually have a good chance to win this game - I will say this goes against how the line is moving, but Martinez doesn't pitch deep into games. The Reds have a strong bullpen, but so do the Marlins, surprisingly. I'll back the fish to steal one from the Reds here to start the series. 

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