Texas Rangers @ Miami Marlins Preview

The Texas Rangers have traveled to Miami for a quick 2-game road trip against the Miami Marlins. This will complete the 4-game set for the season in which the teams current have split at one game a piece.

Probable Pitchers for Tuesday

Texas Rangers

Miles Mikolas (1-5, 7.71 ERA)

vs

Miami Marlins

Jarred Cosart (1-1, 2.92 ERA)

For this series preview Chris Logel and I worked together to ask each other a few questions about the upcoming series. You can follow Chris on Twitter @chrislogel, Marlins Fansided site @marlinmaniac or their website @ marlinmaniac.com 

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Here are some of the questions I asked Chris.

1. Who are the keys players to watch during this series

Giancarlo Stanton is someone that everyone should watch, just for the chance of a mammoth home run, but he is also making a case for National League MVP this year. If he stays healthy he just may earn it. The Marlins have been playing a lot of close games this season, and another person to keep an eye on is Marlins closer Steve Cishek. He has struggled lately and allowed some runs, but has still been getting saves, Keep an eye on how he performs.

2. What has been the biggest disappointment?

I could go a few ways with this but for me, the biggest disappointment has been losing Jose Fernandez to injury. I don’t believe that his injury cost us a spot in the playoffs, but he was such a joy to watch pitch. He loves the game so much and is so talented that it is a bummer to not watch him every fifth day. If you are looking at player performance, I would have to go with Garrett Jones and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Both of them were brought in to answer questions that the Marlins have had for some time at the dish. They have been slight upgrades hitting, but their defense has negated any advantage they have provided from my perspective. Many fans feel differently about them, but I am not a huge fan.

3. The new Marlins Park is in its third season now. Are players starting to figure out how the park behaves? Also, would you say it’s a pitcher’s or hitter’s park?

Great question. Marlins Park immediately received a reputation that you couldn’t hit home runs in it during year 1, but much of that was due to the Marlins weak lineup and not so much the park. With Giancarlo Stanton among the league leaders in home runs, and many of them coming at Marlins Park, I think some of that is being dispelled. That being said, it is a very large outfield. Teams have success if they make solid contact and shoot the ball into the gaps, like Casey McGehee has this year.

4. Who are some of the up and rising prospects you expect to see on this team soon?

Well if you are interested in Marlins prospects you should go check out the Houston Astros, we have given them most of our prospects over the last couple of years. In all seriousness though, Andrew Heaney will be back no later than the start of next year, and I think that Anthony DeSclafani could contribute sooner rather than later.

5. Do you see the Marlins making any majors changes during the offseason?

I think the outfield is pretty set. The question surrounding Giancarlo Stanton being traded will always be there, and if he doesn’t sign an extension this offseason, he will be moved prior to the deadline next year. That being said, with Miami trading Jake Marisnick, I believe that some people think they will be able to extend the slugger. More questions surround the infield, and hopefully they look at getting some help at shortstop, second base, and first base. Good to hear from Chris about Marlins. Looking forward to the game tonight.