Philadelphia Phillies @ Miami Marlins Series Preview: Did the Marlins Break Roy Halladay?

May 5, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay (34) delivers to the plate as Miami Marlins left fielder Juan Pierre (9) takes a lead off third base during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins just barley avoided a three game sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. The win put them at 1-5 for their current nine game home stand.

Next up for the Marlins will be familiar division foes in the Philadelphia Phillies. The two teams have squared off seven times this season, with the Phillies winning four of the seven games.

To preview the series between the third place Phillies and the last place Marlins, I had an email chat with Justin Klugh, editor of That Balls Outta Here, the Fansided Phillies site. Justin and his staff do a wonderful job also of covering everything Phillies-related, from the latest news to full-analysis on just about everything.

Justin and I chatted about everything from if Charlie Manuel is on the hot seat due to the team’s struggles to if the Marlins are responsible for breaking Roy Halladay.

Without any further ado, here is my chat with Justin:

Ehsan Kassim: Did the Marlins break Roy Halladay?

Justin: Ha, ha. Yeah. Sure. You guys probably need that.

Ehsan: So being a Phillies fan is much better than being a Marlins fan, huh?

Justin: Yes, immeasurably so. I mean, we could both probably stand to take a long, hard look at ourselves.  But who wants to spend the day crying, again?

Ehsan: With the Phillies continuing to struggle, is Charlie Manuel on the hot seat?

Justin:  Man, we’re 8-7 in the month of May.  Just won our last three series. Well, we won one, split a four-gamer, and won this one.  Against the defending world champs and the hottest team in the game, with the Diamondbacks in between.  Let’s save the ‘struggle’ talk for when we’re losing seven games in a row.

But yeah, he is.

Ehsan: How much blame goes on GM Ruben Amaro?

Justin: A lot. This is debatable, but in the end, blame won’t even factor into the firings the Phillies pull off if things go sideways down the road. Charlie and Ruben are both of the same mind that a slower, more archaic approach to the game is best, which it is not. As we bounce back and forth between ludicrous highs and abysmal lows, the idea of a youth movement becomes all the more appealing – in that, watching a team struggle because it’s developing at least feels purposeful, rather than watching Ryan Howard and Delmon Young ground out weakly to the right side for 162 games.

If that idea becomes reality, I’d clean house, that includes Ruben. He’s clearly not the greatest at keeping prospects around. But that’s really pulling the rip cord, something nobody should be doing this early.

Ehsan: What’s the latest injury news on Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz?

Justin: They’re both getting MRIs and will join the Phillies Tuesday. You want both guys healthy and ready to play, but losing Ryan Howard’s bat from the lineup isn’t explosively cataclysmic. The dude’s just not hitting. Chooch, at least, is putting the ball in play, hitting it hard, just always at somebody. He’ll figure it out, if his hamstring isn’t too horrific.

That said, I like both of these guys tremendously and don’t want them to be hurt, just saying, losing Howard’s bat in 2013 isn’t as much of a blow as l

Ehsan: Over/under 15,000 fans at the game Wednesday, as the Heat play in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the same time?

Justin: Oh man.  15,000?  You must be dreaming.  While we’re in this dream could Ryan Howard please be really, really good again?  Awesome, thanks.

A big thank you to Justin for taking his timeout to talk to us. We at Marlin Maniac wish all Philadelphia fans the best of luck in the upcoming series. If you get a chance, please check out That Balls Outta for the questions I answered for Justin.