When the Marlins arrive at Turner Field today, they will be facing their division rivals the Atlanta Braves. The differences between the Braves of the past and this year’s club are that Bobby Cox is no longer the manager and their second baseman called Sun Life Stadium his home for the last five seasons.
This past offseason, the Marlins decided to part ways with their popular second baseman Dan Uggla after not being able to reach an agreement on a contract extension. The organization shipped Uggla to the Atlanta Braves and received infielder Omar Infante and lefty reliever Michael Dunn. A few months after the trade, Uggla and the Braves agreed to a five-year $62 million contract.
So far, the trade has worked out for both teams. Uggla has clubbed two solo home runs for the Braves but is hitting .158 in his first ten games. Infante has shown his what he can do with his glove by not committing an error in his first nine games in a Marlins’ uniform. The final piece of the trade, lefty reliever Dunn, has already appeared four games with the Fish and has allowed just one hit so far. Even though these teams are just nine and ten games into the season respectively, they will continue to expect great things from their acquisitions.
Going into 2010 season, the Bobby Cox era was going to come to an end regardless of how the Braves finished. Cox had entrenched himself as the skipper in Atlanta as part of two different stints for 26 seasons. He led the Braves to 13 consecutive division titles and a World Series Championship in 1995. Luckily for Cox, the Braves made it to the postseason for the first time since 2005. Once the Braves were eliminated from the postseason the search for a new manager had begun. After just two days from elimination, the organization decided to go with former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez to be the Braves manager for the next three seasons. Gonzalez was fired by the Marlins last season after starting the season 34-36. He had also served as the third base coach under Bobby Cox in Atlanta from 2003 to 2006.
Despite the connections between these two clubs, the Marlins will have to stay focused throughout the three game series. Chris Volstad, Josh Johnson, and Ricky Nolasco will be facing their old teammate Dan Uggla for the first time in their careers. This should be an interesting scenario because throughout the last five seasons, this pitching staff has not had to worry about pitching to one of the most feared hitters in the National League. The key for these pitchers is to keep the ball down and away, don’t try to sneak a fastball up and inside of the strike zone. You don’t want to give Uggla a ball that he can drive out of the park especially when you have “Marlins killers” Chipper Jones (.302, 39 HR, 157 RBI vs. Marlins) and Brian McCann (.274, 15 HR, and 62 RBI vs. Marlins) hitting in front of him.
The Braves will also send Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, and Brandon Beachy to the mound against the Marlins in this series. In order to be successful against these guys, the Marlins are going to have to continue to show patience at the plate and make these guys throw a lot pitches. Of the three starting pitchers, Hudson has the most success against he Fish. In 19 career starts, Hudson has gone 9-3 and posted an ERA of 2.84. Hanson has had some success against the Fish by going 3-1 with and ERA of 3.13 in six starts. Beachy will be making his first ever appearance against the Marlins on Thursday.
It is imperative that the Marlins win at least two games of the three games in this series for a couple of reasons. The first reason being that this young Marlins club needs to set the tone against the Braves if they are going to compete. Last season, the Marlins finished with a losing record of 7-11 against them. The second reason why the Marlins need to take at least two games of this three game series is because their next stop will be in Philadelphia. Unlike last season, I actually like the Marlins’ chances in this three game series against the Braves. Their vastly improved plate discipline and bullpen should make for an exciting series in Atlanta.
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