2 Reasons why the Miami Marlins can still win the WC series

1. Philly's "Achilles' heel"

The Miami Marlins have a chance to take advantage of the Philadelphia Phillies' big flaw. It's certainly time to exploit it to its fullest! What is the flaw? Their pitching outside of ace Zack Wheeler is really nothing impressive. I would even say that it's very shaky and poor for a supposedly contending team. I already talked about Aaron Nola, and that's their #2 starting pitcher.

The Miami Marlins can take advantage of the Philadelphia Phillies' biggest flaw

How comfortable can Philly really be without Zack Wheeler pitching any more games for the rest of this playoff series. Cristopher Sanchez has a shiny 3.44 ERA, but he also has a 3.99 FIP, implying that he's not nearly as good as the ERA implies. He also had a 3.65 ERA/4.15 FIP in the second half. Ranger Suarez has a 4.18 ERA/3.90 FIP and Taijuan Walker has a 4.38 ERA/4.54 FIP. This isn't a playoff rotation outside of Wheeler as nne of these pitcher strike fear in a lineup.

What about the bullpen? Oh boy where do I begin with that. The bullpen has a collective 3.88 FIP/4.06 xFIP, but it's a lot worse when you look at how volatile and inconsistent their relief pitchers have been all season. Who can they even trust for saves? Craig Kimbrel has a 3.26 ERA/3.81 FIP. Jose Alvarado has constant control issues, and showed that off already in the first game of the series. He has a 3.9 BB/9 this season and 5.1 BB/9 for his entire career.

How about former Detroit Tigers closer Gregory Soto? He has a 4.62 ERA this season. I have a hard time seeing this pitching staff, and expecting it to be good enough to take Philly to the World Series again. I don't even see how it's good enough to get them smoothly through tonight's and hopefully tomorrow's game (obviously it will only happen if the Miami Marlins win tonight).

A shaky bullpen and a poor rotation are not things that you want to have in a short playoff series. With their ace out of the way for the rest of the series, the Miami Marlins can exploit this issue, to win tonight and then to win the final game tomorrow night as well.