Marlins Trevor Richards gets the ball against the Cubs

The Miami Marlins open a three-game series on Monday when Trevor Richards face the Chicago Cubs starting at 7:10 PM from Marlins Park.

Trevor Richards stats tell you he is going to be one of the better young pitchers in the National League this season. The Miami Marlins record tells you it could still be a long season for their starter and the rest of this pitching staff.

The Cubs counter with Yu Darvish. After falling 3-1 in 14 innings in the series finale to the Philadelphia Phillies the home team will attempt to muster the beginning of a new win streak at Marlins Park.

Richards has been a strikeout machine, taking down 18 batters in the 18 innings of work this season in his first three starts. His changeup has been almost unhittable, which is evident of the 2.00 ERA he has posted this season.

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Per MLB.com, hitters are betting. 089 against him when he uses the changeup, which he uses 39.2 percent of the time. The opposition is swinging at his fastball 41.3 percent of the time he throws off the mound.

Following a 10-3 win on Saturday night, the Marlins and the Phillies took a 1-1 game to the 14th inning where the team turned to Wei-Yin Chen to try and get their second straight win and take the series away from their National League East rivals. Manager Don Mattingly called on Wei-Yin Chen to come in and give the visitors a two-game winning streak.

I really don’t need to write anything more here. We all know how this ended. Chen allowed a two-run homer to Jean Segura, and Miami could not find a way to win. It’s a continuing saga for both the organization and their left-handed reliever.

Chen now has a 23.40 ERA in five innings over four games. He’s allowed 13 runs on 12 hits with five home runs. The loss erased what was considered Jose Urena’s best outing of the season, lasting seven innings, allowing one run, while matching his career-high with seven strikeouts.

"“That’s where you are at at this point,” Mattingly said. “That’s what his job is, basically. He’s trying to get through that. I’ve seen guys actually who actually get going in those types of situations. They come in, give you four, five, six innings. Hopefully, it wasn’t going to have to be that. But I’ve seen it a lot where that guy comes in and pitches really well.”"

Now, Richards has a chance to set the tone for the series, which is a big one for the Marlins early in the season. The Marlins are 4-12 this season and six games back of the Phillies in the division. The team is tied with the Colorado Rockies for the worst record in the Majors.

The Miami Marlins open a three-game series on Monday when Trevor Richards face the Chicago Cubs starting at 7:10 PM from Marlins Park.

Schedule