It may not be a good idea. It could be the biggest disaster in the history of the sport. But the powers that be in the Major League Baseball want a 2020 season, and that’s why they’ll have a 2020 season!
This season is going to be a little different. Instead of a 162 game marathon, we will have a 60 game sprint. And instead of facing teams from across the country, the Phillies will only face teams in the two eastern divisions. And there will be a designated hitter in all games. (Hurrah!)
It may not be what we’re used to. It may not be what we want. But after an endless wait, we finally see the Phillies again, so I’m not going to complain.
The Phillies will kick off this one-frame season against a familiar opponent in the Miami Marlins. The Marlins weren’t very good in 2019, and they don’t seem to be very good in 2020, but as we saw last year, that doesn’t guarantee that the Phillies will have it easy.
Miami Marlins
Registration 2019: 57-105
Manager: Don Mattingly
The last time they met
After a disappointing season, the Phillies still had a chance to end 2019 with a winning record. All they had to do was sweep the Marlins in the final series of the year. Things were looking good after the first two won, but they couldn’t finish the job in the final. That 4-3 loss marked the end game (hopefully!) In a Phillies uniform for manager Gabe Kapler, and it would also be the last time the Phillies played a regular-season game for nearly ten months.
Were the Marlins good in 2019?
They were not. After owning group Derek Jeter purged the roster of most good players, the Marlins were expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball. And while they were pretty bad, they weren’t the worst in the major leagues. So that’s something!
Those pesky Marlins
The Marlins’ record would have been much worse if they hadn’t proven annoyingly competent every time they played with the Phillies. Against the rest of the National League East, they were unfortunate (4-15 against the Braves, 6-13 against the Mets and 4-15 against the Nationals), but somehow managed to go 10-9 against the Phillies.
Phillies on the verge of losing the season series to the Marlins. If the Marlins win today, 17.5% (10 of 57) of their wins this season will have been against the Phillies.
– Bill Baer (@Baer_Bill) September 29, 2019
In hindsight, I’m not sure if the Marlins played better against the Phillies, or if the Phillies simply saved their worst performances for the games against Miami. You can recall incidents like “The Phillies have a 6-1 lead” and “The Phillies have a 7-0 lead.”
With last year’s fights fresh on everyone’s minds, there was a slight sense of dread when the calendar said the Marlins would be the Phillies’ first opponent in 2020. But the results of head-to-head fighting tend not to carry over from season to season. other. And the Phillies actually had winning records over the Marlins in the previous three seasons.
So don’t worry about last year. I only know that the level of talent on the Phillies’ list dwarfs that of the Marlins. And that should result in much better results this season.
Not break the bank
At first glance, the Marlins were aggressive this offseason. They added veteran players like Corey Dickerson, Jonathan Villar and Brandon Kintzler, who theoretically will improve the possibilities of the team. If you think that means they have significantly increased their payroll, then you haven’t paid much attention to how the franchise works.
Pat Mahomes won a contract worth roughly the equivalent of the 2015-2019 Miami Marlins Opening Day payroll combined
– Freddie Benson 2.0 (@ FreeFreddie3) July 6, 2020
Despite having one of the lowest payrolls in 2019, the Marlins somehow reduced the amount they are paying players in 2020, which did not make the MLB Players Association very happy.
This brings me to an important question: Why does this franchise exist? The property seldom tries to be competitive, and based on television ratings and attendance, fans don’t care.
Focus on: José Ureña
Two years ago, José Ureña was considered a rising star. Sure, there would be an intentional bean ball here and there, but it showed enough positive signs that the Marlins were confident that it would be a vital part of their initial rotation for years to come.
In 2019, those hopes were dimmed. He wasted some time with a back injury and was ineffective when he was able to pitch. The Marlins tried to use him as a reliever, but it was even worse in that role.
Ureña will start the 2020 season in rotation. He will be on the mound for the third game in the series, where he will take on another pitcher who had a disappointing 2019 (and 2018 and 2017) at Vince Velasquez. Interestingly, despite a generally bad season, Ureña was much more successful against the Phillies in 2019 than up to that point in his career.
Prediction
The Phillies will lose the first game, leading to a round of “Here we go again!” talk. But they will recover to take the next two, and they will show us that 2020 is a whole new season.
