Series Preview: @Pittsburgh Pirates

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The Marlins continue their tour through the NL Central, as they come to beautiful PNC Park for a four-game set versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Marlins have struggled versus Pittsburgh before, which is odd given the Pirates’ current state of affairs. Hopefully, the club can turn it around this time.

Florida Marlins @ Cincinnati Reds (64-51), August 10-12, Games 111-113

NL East Standings

TmWLWin%GB
ATL6849.581
PHI6651.5642.0
NYM5859.49610.0
FLA5759.49110.5
WSN5167.43217.5

Stadium: PNC Park
Five-year Run PF*: 0.99
Five-year HR PF*: 0.94
Stadium Dimensions:
Left Field: 325 ft.
Left-Center: 383
Center Field: 410
Right-Center: 375
Right Field: 320

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

Projected Pitching Matchups

August 16: Chris Volstad vs. James McDonald
August 17: Ricky Nolasco vs. Zach Duke
August 18: Josh Johnson vs. Ross Ohlendorf
August 19: Sean West vs. Paul Maholm

ZiPS In-Season Projections

FIPProj. FIPWin%MarlinsDateRedsWin%Proj. FIPFIP
4.534.61.449VolstadAugust 16McDonald.4224.882.66
3.873.69.553NolascoAugust 17Duke.4794.334.91
2.332.84.662JohnsonAugust 18Ohlendorf.4424.684.45
5.455.27.385WestAugust 19Maholm.5223.954.39

Projected Lineup

LineupPlayerCurrent wOBAProj. wOBA v. RHPProj. wOBA v. LHP
1Hanley Ramirez.359.392.407
2Logan Morrison.334
3Gaby Sanchez.358.339.363
4Dan Uggla.390.364.376
5Mike Stanton.391
6Cody Ross.315.327.361
7Wes Helms.293.294.321
8Ronny Paulino.291.298.333

Notes

Josh Johnson will make the third start of this series, and hopefully he can make it look better than his last one. The Cincinnati Reds start was awful, or at least awfully unlucky.

Wes Helms cannot have a tenuous grip on the third base job, but he is holding onto it mostly because the Marlins’ next option is Donnie Murphy.

Mike Stanton has been moved up to fifth in the lineup thanks to his hot streak. Ross has struggled this season anyway, so it isn’t a terrible move. Manager Edwin Rodriguez also mentioned that Hanley Ramirez will be leading off for the rest of the season.

Bold Prediction: Marlins win three out of four games