Series Preview: @Colorado Rockies

The Marlins are coming off a disappointing series and are setting their sights on the Colorado Rockies. Hopefully we can take our frustrations from the previous series (more on that affair in a little bit) and take the Rockies out on the road.

Florida Marlins @ Colorado Rockies (8-8), April 23-25, Games 17-19

NL East Standings

Tm	W	L	Win%	GB
PHI	10	5	.667	—
FLA	9	7	.563	1.5
ATL	8	7	.533	2.0
WSN	8	8	.500	2.5
NYM	7	9	.438	3.5

Stadium: Coors Field
Five-year Run PF*: 1.08
Five-year HR PF*: 1.07
Stadium Dimensions:
Left Field: 347 ft.
Left-Center: 390
Center Field: 415
Right-Center: 375
Right Field: 350

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

Projected Pitching Matchups

April 23: Ricky Nolasco vs. Greg Smith
April 24: Nate Robertson vs. Aaron Cook
April 25: Chris Volstad vs. Jorge De La Rosa

ZiPS In-Season Projections

FIP	Win%	Marlins	Date	Reds	Win%	FIP
3.53	.572	Nolasco	April 23	Smith	.404	5.06
4.29	.483	Robertson	April 24	Cook	.477	4.35
4.42	.469	Volstad	April 25	De La Rosa	.513	4.03

Projected Lineups

Lineup	Player	Current wOBA	Proj. wOBA v. RHP	Proj. wOBA v. LHP
1	Cameron Maybin	.337	.305	.319
2	Chris Coghlan	.152	.341	.313
3	Hanley Ramirez	.367	.400	.420
4	Jorge Cantu	.391	.336	.354
5	Dan Uggla	.402	.356	.365
6	John Baker/Ronny Paulino*	.333/.348	.332	.339
7	Cody Ross	.280	.329	.362
8	Gaby Sanchez	.373	.336	.366

*Baker and Paulino are platooning. Projected wOBA vs. RHP is for Baker, vs. LHP is for Paulino.

Notes

– Chris Coghlan continues to struggle, now hitting only .123/.167/.123 on the season. The Marlins will have plenty of patience for him, and he of course should recover. However, if you want another 2009 campaign from Coghlan, you’d better hope for another ridiculous second-half run. He’s dug himself into a really big hole early in the year.

– For those who play fantasy, beware of Cameron Maybin. His batting average dipped to .284, and his wOBA now sits at .337, primarily because his BABIP is regressing by the second. He is fast enough to maintain something in the .270 range, but he’ll need to start hitting the ball out of the infield if he wants to be productive for the Marlins. Right now, he’s hit grounders in 27 of 43 balls in play. Hopefully the light air in Coors can help him out.

– Non-series related note: my Call to the Pen article on linear weights is up, check it out!

– The Rockies are splitting catching duties between Chris Iannetta and Miguel Olivo. As a Marlins fan who watched Miguel Olivo catch full-time, I can tell you one thing is certain: whatever time you are giving to Miguel Olivo is time wasted developing a better player, and Chris Iannetta is a good player. Here’s hoping the Rockies come to their senses after our series is over.

Bold Prediction: Marlins take one of three games.

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