Miami Marlins at Milwaukee Brewers: Three stories to watch

The Miami Marlins will get their last road trip of the first half started with a visit to the beautifully average Miller Park to take on the Milwaukee Brewers.

Well, that was a dispiriting way to wrap up the homestand for the Miami Marlins. Amazing how wide the gulf between 5-5 and 6-4 is in the grand scheme.

However, time to regroup and look forward. The next time you’ll see Fish playing at Marlins Park, it will be just two or three of them accompanied by the other best players in the game of baseball.

The first half wraps with a ten game odyssey that traverses the country, starting tonight in Milwaukee, passing through the baseball mecca of St. Louis, and wrapping way out west in San Francisco.

Miami will certainly need those four days off.

Their toughest series though might be the first one on deck. The newly returned Ryan Braun is showing no signs of rust, having homered in consecutive games. He’ll lead a Brewers club that has kept a surprising grip on first place in the NL Central for much of the season.

Important no matter how you look at it

And whether your focus remains on seeing the Miami Marlins challenge for a place in the postseason, or just playing well enough to impress the trade vultures, this Miller Park tilt is absolutely a show-me series for Miami.

Win, and they’ve proven they can hang with another Wild Card challenger. Lose, and the recent run of success looks more and more like the product of having played some softer competition.

If nothing else, it will be a series filled with interesting subplots.

For many, the weekends games are likely secondary to the grander narratives of sale talks and All-Star nominations. But there are stories to watch for on the field as well. From the newest member of the Miami Marlins rotation, to a mini-Home Run Derby, to some hopefully excellent pitching, we’ve got you covered.

Let’s dive in

The End Of Justin Nicolino?

It does seem that the Miami Marlins have come to that decision, and will be tapping someone else for Saturday’s start. To be fair, Justin Nicolino did have the Herculean task of keeping Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant in check in his two outings since returning from the DL.

But it hasn’t so much been the runs allowed with Nico as it has the innings pitched: he’s only made it out of the fourth inning once in five 2017 appearances. Yes, one of those was on account of injury, but there’s no arguing he has been a drain on the bullpen every time out.

To be honest, I’m somewhat impressed with the front office here. I thought for sure he would draw one more start, with this weekend’s appearance being a make or break one for him. Provided the rest of the Miami Marlins did their part.

Tom Koehler has been looking considerably more solid down on the farm in AAA. As has  28 yr old AA hurler named Mike Kickham. If the Marlins came up empty on another Nicolino day, but still managed to win this series, the Fish brass might decide to…well, try. If the Fish start to flounder again, say by losing consecutive series, then there would have been less incentive to make a move.

And The Next Miami Marlins Starter Is….

But it appears the club is trying to inject a little bit of life now, which is to their credit. This could also just be about saving the bullpen from the wear and tear Nicolino tends to inflict on them. In any event, someone new will be taking the mound Saturday for Miami.

Koehler was pulled from his scheduled start Thursday for New Orleans, with Odrisamer Despaigne taking his place. That both suggests Koehler is getting the nod, as well as burns another Marlins spot starter favorite.

That seems all but decided, and the Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer suggested as much Wednesday. There’s a lot to read into who is ultimately picked though.

If it isn’t Koehler, then it would seem certain he remains on the trade block, and the front office wants him to keep padding his stats. If it is Koehler, then it could all be about seeing if he could look good enough against MLB competition to bolster his value. Or he could be back to stay.

Expect a short leash though on whoever it is, with not even a second start against St. Louis guaranteed if they falter.

Who Wins The Pre-Derby?

Ryan Braun probably warrants talking point No. 1 in the Miami Marlins pitchers meeting heading into this series. But they would do well not to forget the other Brewers big slugger, Eric Thames.

Thames headlines a potent Brewers lineup in the power department, and will make it three players with 20 HRs or more taking hacks this weekend at Miller Park. To put what we might be about to witness in perspective, Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw has 17 HRs on the year and Braun has hit just south of 300 HRs in his career.

Neither one of those guys is even in the Top 4 for 2017 HR leaders facing off in this one.

So it seems pretty likely we will be seeing the ball leaving the yard in a hurry in this series. The Marlins will definitely need to break out their boomsticks to be winners, as all of these games could end up being slugfests.

Giancarlo Stanton is already locked in, health permitting, for the Derby. He could go homerless for the duration and still compete. But Thames, Ozuna, maybe even a reignited Justin Bour? All could pad their candidacies for the Derby spotlight with strong performances. It should be a lot of fun watching these sluggers swing for the fences.