3 Red Sox storylines in the upcoming series vs Miami Marlins
By Zachary McMahon
The Boston Red Sox will try to get out of their recent slump in a three-game series against the Miami Marlins in Fenway Park which will take place on Tuesday through Thursday.
The Red Sox have lost four of their last five games after a six-game winning streak. This puts the Sox in just one game over .500. The Sox are 1-10 this season against National League opponents at Fenway Park.
Meanwhile, the Marlins will come in at 45-34 and in 2nd place in the National League East. The Marlins took 3 out of a four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last series.
The Red Sox have won 9 out of their last 10 games against the Marlins including a sweep in the 2021 and 2018 seasons. The Red Sox are 31-13 all-time in matchups against the Marlins and have won all except for two series against the Marlins where they lost in 2015 and 1997.
Here’s some storylines before the Red Sox throw the first pitch in Boston.
Boston Red Sox will have to defend against Luis Arraez
Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez has been playing lights out from the batters box for the Marlins this season. He’s hitting an impressive .399 batting average and could be the first player to bat .400 in a season since the Red Sox’s very own Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Tony Gwynn was the closest to the .400 mark when he hit .394 in 1994.
Arraez is currently on a 10-game on-base streak which included two-games with five hits in the span of three days. He did this in the wins against the Washington Nationals on June 16 and fellow Sox AL East rival Toronto Blue Jays on June 19.
Arraez has a .295 batting average, a home run and 10 RBIs in 19 games in his career against the Red Sox during his time with the Minnesota Twins.
The Sox pitching and defense will have to be on par to keep Arraez in check, as the defense has have stretches of sloppy play.
Red Sox injuries keep piling up
The Red Sox has had the injury bug all season long, and that will be no different in this series. On Friday, the Sox moved infielder Pablo Reyes to the 10-day injured list with an undisclosed injury.
In the latest injury to the Sox rotation, James Paxton had to be taken out of his start on Saturday’s loss against the Chicago White Sox due to an knee injury. However, Paxton believes that he’ll be able be in his next scheduled start which will be on Friday’s series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Due to the Sox, still looking for a starter after the injury to Tanner Houck, the Sox have no scheduled starter for Wednesday. In recent weeks, they have had called starters up from Worcester. Or in the case in Thursday’s loss against the Twins, had Justin Garza pitch the 1st inning and then Brandon Walter took almost the rest of the game. If the Sox would call up a starter from Worcester it could be recent acquisition Kyle Barraclough, who started out his career against the Marlins.
Want your voice heard? Join the Chowder And Champions team!
Meanwhile, Garret Whitlock till take the series opener and the phenom Brayan Bello will take start on the mound in Thursday’s Series Finale.
Dugie will be back for the Boston Red Sox
Alex Verdugo has been out since Thursday when he was placed on the bereavement list. Verdugo is expected to be back in the Tuesday series opener.
The Sox have lost three out of the four games that Dugie has been out for, so they’ll need his spark at the plate and on defense out at right field.
Next. Boston Red Sox Rumors: 3 starting pitchers to target via trade. dark
Dugie has hit .333 batting average with a home run, 4 RBIs and 5 runs scored in 8 games against the Miami Marlins in his career with the Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the first pitch will be at 7:10 p.m. and then for the series finale first pitch will be at 6:10 p.m. All games will be on NESN, NESN 360 and MLB.tv for all subscribers outside of New England and Florida markets.