Washington’s potent offense and elite road record collide with Miami’s top pitching prospect, Robby Snelling, as the rookie southpaw makes his highly anticipated Major League debut.
MIAMI — The Miami Marlins’ 10-game homestand continues to be challenging on Friday with the Washington Nationals coming to loanDepot park for a three-game weekend series.
Under first-year manager Blake Butera, the Nationals have quickly become one of the toughest road teams in baseball this season. The Nationals (18-20) enter Friday’s game with a 12-7 record on the road, which is tied for the second-highest away win total in Major League Baseball, trailing only the National League East-leading Atlanta Braves (14 wins).
As a road team, the Washington offense ranks fourth in MLB (third in NL) with 105 runs scored. Overall, the Nationals rank fourth in MLB (3rd in NL) with 205 runs scored, including a league-high 33 runs in the first inning.
“They really scored a lot of runs this year,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said during his pregame press conference on Friday.
“When you have two young talented players that are also performing at a really high level,” he said, “you do have chances for some runs.”
Among their offensive leaders is James Wood (.908 OPS, 10 HR, 27 RBI), who leads MLB with an average exit velocity of 96.5 MPH, and is one of three big leaguers with more than one batted ball greater than 116.0 MPH this season.
“Wood has been since he’s burst onto the scene,” McCullough said. “I mean he can change the scoreboard so it’s a really lethal bat.”
Another emerging franchise cornerstone is infielder CJ Abrams, who is 12-for-34 (.353) with three doubles, two homers, 12 RBI, four walks, two stolen bases and six runs scored over his last nine games. Abrams ranks among the top of the NL in RBI (2nd, 33), on-base percentage (6th, .391), OPS (10th, .933), and slugging (10th, .542).
“CJ Abrams has always been an increasingly talented individual,” McCullough said.
Washington's pitching staff has also been formidable on the road, posting a .234 opponents' batting average, which is fifth in the NL. Friday starter Foster Griffin ranks sixth in the National League with a 2.27 ERA, while Sunday starter Cade Cavalli ranks 10th in the NL with a strikeout rate of 10.38 punchouts per nine innings
“I’m sure they have a lot of energy with the new staff, and are playing very well,” McCullough said.
The Marlins are sending rookie left-hander Robby Snelling to make his Major League debut. The 22-year-old, who entered the season ranked as MLB's No. 32 overall prospect and No. 2 in the Marlins farm system, posted a 3-1 record with a 1.86 ERA and 44 strikeouts in six starts at Triple-A Jacksonville.
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