Two teams that have seen significant turn-arounds from 2019 will meet in an East division interleague matchup on Wednesday when the Miami Marlins host the Toronto Blue Jays. These teams have split the two head-to-head matchups earlier this season that both ended up being 10-inning games, with Toronto winning 5-4 as a -154 favorite on August 11, and Miami winning 14-11 as a +141 underdog on August 12.
This prediction was made before the Blue Jays and Marlins completed their game on Tuesday night.
Blue Jays flying higher
The Toronto Blue Jays finished fourth in the AL East with a 67-95 record in 2019 but headed into this season excited about their core of young talent. The Blue Jays are 18-15 and third in the AL East after winning 11 of their last 15 games overall. Toronto had their four-game winning streak snapped on Monday with a 4-3 loss to Baltimore in 11 innings.
The Blue Jays have responded well to the adversity of not being able to play any real home games this season, due to the Canadian government not allowing the team to travel from the United States back to Toronto. As a result, the Blue Jays are playing their home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York.
Offensively the Blue Jays are hitting .248 as a team, which is 15th in MLB and averaging 4.8 runs per game, which is 12th.
Teoscar Hernandez leads the team with a .302 batting average and 12 home runs and five stolen bases and is second with 22 RBI. Randal Grichuk is second on the team with a .297 average and first with 24 RBI to go along with nine home runs.
Toronto has received good pitching this year with a team ERA of 3.72, which is 5th in the league. Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is 2-1 with a 2.92 ERA, is the starter for Wednesday.
Marlins in playoff contention
The Miami Marlins are currently in second place in the NL East with a 15-15 record. Although the record may not look overly impressive, when considering that the Marlins finished with a 57-105 record in 2019, the franchise is very pleased to have a legitimate shot at the postseason with half the season left.
As a team, Miami is 20th in MLB, batting .237 and 21st averaging 4.3 runs per game. The Marlins’ offensive production has been led by their corner infielders, Jesus Aguilar and Brian Anderson. Aguilar is batting .280 average with four home runs and 20 RBI, and Anderson has a .3330 OBP with five homers and 19 RBI.
Surprisingly the Marlins were actually buyers at the trading dealing, acquiring outfielder Starling Marte from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Marte is batting .311 with two home runs, 14 RBI, and five stolen bases this season. The acquisition of Marte shows that the Marlins are seriously thinking about the postseason in 2020.
The pitching staff for Miami is 15th in baseball with a 4.33 ERA on the season. Sixto Sanchez, a 22-year-old rookie, will make his third career big league start on Wednesday. Sanchez is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 14:1 strikeout to walks ratio of the season.
Notable Trends
- Marlins are 0-5 in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning record.
- Blue Jays are 6-1 in their last 7 games vs. a right-handed starter.
