Can Max Meyer conquer his road woes? The Marlins chase their first series win with a red-hot lineup powering the charge.
Miami Marlins RHP Max Meyer toes the rubber on Sunday looking to correct his rough road streak.
Meyer has a 5.67 ERA (38 ER) and 57 strikeouts in 60.1 innings through 13 career road starts. His last road start was against the Atlanta Braves on April 14, where he surrendered three runs on five hits with five strikeouts over five innings.
Much like Eury Pérez before him, Sunday will be Meyer’s first start against the San Francisco Giants. The only two batters in the Giants lineup that he has previously faced are Luis Arraez and Willy Adames. Arraez, a former Marlin, went 4-for-6 with two doubles against Meyers.
The Marlins are 3-2 when Meyer is on the mound this season. He struck out a season-high eight batters through 5.1 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 20 in his last start. It was the first time this season that he pitched in the sixth inning.
Strikeouts have been the key to his success. Through five starts, Meyer led the Marlins rotation in strikeouts (28) and ranked second in opponent’s AVG (.206) behind only ace Sandy Alcantara (.192).
The Giants will send Landen Roupp to the mound in the rubber match. Roupp has emerged as San Francisco’s best pitcher, with a 4-1 record, a 2.28 ERA, and 31 strikeouts in 27.2 innings pitched.
A win over the Giants will not only put the Marlins (13-14) back at .500, but give them their first road series win of the season.
Outfielder Jakob Marsee is back in the lineup batting leadoff. With 10 stolen bases so far this year, Marsee leads a Miami group that ranks second in MLB with 31 bags, second only to the Milwaukee Brewers (35).
Second baseman Xavier Edwards remains in the lineup batting cleanup, hoping his sharp contact bat will yield some runs. Edwards, who has played every game for the Marlins, leads the National League in hits (36), batting average (.353), and on-base percentage (.431).
While the Marlins struggle to win on the road, Edwards seems to thrive away from Miami. Edwards has a team-high .395/.458/.581 slash line in 43 at-bats with seven runs scored through 11 road games.
Behind Edwards in the lineup is catcher Liam Hicks, who has emerged as one of the best bats in the sport. Hicks leads qualified big league catchers in batting average (.313, 26-for-83) and leads the Marlins with 24 RBI (3rd in MLB).
Hicks is the guy to have with runners in scoring position. He leads the Marlins with a .379 batting average with 16 RBI in 29 at-bats with runners on second and/or third base.
Kyle Stowers is slotted at first base for the first time in his big league career. The star slugger has been an outfielder throughout his young career but extending to first base for lineup flexibility has been in discussions since the previous offseason.
The Marlins enter Sunday’s contest as the underdogs (+110) with the over/under at 7.5, according to Hard Rock Bet.
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