Miami Marlins vs. St. Louis Cardinals: Three stories to watch

Will The Healthy Miami Marlins Pitchers Step Up? 

Miami Marlins fans, theoretically, get a break from their pitching injury woes in this series. Adam Conley, Tom Koehler, and Dan Straily all take the hill, just as they have done all season. Which is comforting, and begs a vital question:

With two-fifths of the starting rotation suddenly out of commission, just who amongst the remaining three is going to pick up the slack?

Because right now, the answer is apparently Jose Urena. He was excellent yesterday in his six innings, and honestly should have been allowed to attempt the seventh. That result was great for the Marlins, but that result can’t be the answer to the above question either. In a rotation that lacks a true No. 1, it’s on the shoulders of everyone to dig a little deeper when the injuries come.

And when you add in the miles put on Marlins pitching over the weekend, the club really needs a couple more quality starts from their still standing trio of starting pitchers. Someone needs to bring the A game. My money is on Koehler, but it’s really a pick’em proposition.

Next: Sale of Miami Marlins becoming a popularity contest

One last point before we leave, a bonus fourth story if you will that is true of every Cardinals-Marlins contest. These teams know each other very well. Sharing a Spring Training home with a team is awesome in March when you want to avoid cramming your million dollar athletes onto buses. But when the time comes to play those pesky regular season games, that familiarity comes back to bite you.

Last year, the Miami Marlins made that work for them. We’ll just have to hope they were the clubhouse taking better notes this past spring as well.