Marlins vs. Braves Game Preview: 3/8/14

The Miami Marlins kick off the weekend by taking on a split squad from the Atlanta Braves at 1:05pm EST today. Yesterday the Marlins extended their streak to 4 straight games without a loss when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3. That victory extended the Marlins spring training record to 6-2. The Braves spring record is 2-7 so far in 2014.

Miami will send the young right-hander Jacob Turner to the hill to take on Atlanta. Turner is 0-1 so far with a 4.50 ERA. The Braves split squad that is welcoming the Fish to Champion Stadium will include Jason Heyward and the Upton brothers. Most of the starting infield for Atlanta will be heading to Space Coast Stadium to take on the Washington Nationals.

Here is the Miami Marlins starting lineup:

Donovan Solano – 2B
Reed Johnson – RF
Marcell Ozuna – CF
Jeff Baker – 1B
Casey McGehee – 3B
Ty Wigginton – DH
Brian Bogusevic – LF
Ed Lucas – SS
Rob Brantly – C

Jacob Turner – P

This starting lineup that Miami is employing today might raise some eyebrows after the stink that was raised a couple of days ago when Boston didn’t bring many starters to Jupiter, Florida to take on Miami. Numerous stories were written about a front office of the Marlins that was ‘infururiated’ by the perceived lack of effort on the Red Sox part. By my count, this lineup has two potential starters in it with Ozuna and McGehee and 3 potential bench players with Baker, Bogusevic, and either Ed Lucas or Donovan Solano. The vast majority of the starter’s for Miami appear to be getting the day off.

It will be interesting to see how Atlanta responds to Miami’s lineup, and if any stories come out of this. I for one, do not think that teams should be forced to play a certain amount of “good players” during spring training, but I also believe that teams should not have “premium games” and charge more for certain spring training games. Spring training games should be cheap and available for all, and we wouldn’t have to worry about making certain players play. It can be based on training and getting ready for the upcoming season, not an additional money grab for teams.

For those wanting to catch this game, have your radio dials handy. This game will not be broadcast on television, but you can catch it on the Atlanta radio station of WCNN 680AM/93.7FM, or for a broadcast in spanish you can listen in to the Miami WAQI 710AM station. Let us know your predictions for performance in the comments below. We would love to hear from you!