MLB Lines – Rockies vs Marlins
Opening Day is finally here, and baseball nuts everywhere are rejoicing. There are a ton of tasty match-ups on the Opening Day slate; one in southern Florida should offer some great pitching and maybe even a couple of moonshots.
Date/Time: Monday, March 31 2014, 7 pm EST
Venue: Marlins Park, Miami FL
MLB Betting Odds
Spread: Miami -148
Over/Under: 6.5
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Pitching Match-up: Jorge de la Rosa (0-0) vs. Jose Fernandez (0-0)
An opening-series clash between the Rockies and the Marlins feature two teams that aren’t expected to do much in their respective divisions, but still have plenty of star power.
Miami’s staff ace Jose Fernandez is already a superstar, and it’s just his second year in the league. Last year’s National League Rookie of the Year had a 12-6 record to go with a sparkling 2.18 ERA, 187 strikeouts and a WHIP under one. He’s entrenched himself as an imposing, top-of-the-rotation guy at the tender age of 21.
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It’s not just Fernandez that makes Miami interesting – young slugger Giancarlo Stanton is a sight to behold.
The 6″6, 240-lb Stanton might have the most raw power in all of baseball, and he’s only 24. At the very least, the Marlins have a couple amazing young studs to build around in the next few seasons.
Colorado has its own impressive core, and its pitching rotation is constantly making strides. The Rockies acquired promising but oft-injured starter Brett Anderson from Oakland in the offseason; the current trio of SS Troy Tulowitzki, OF Carlos Gonzalez and 3B Nolan Arenado is something any franchise would be excited about.
With the Washington Nationals and (maybe, given the pitching injuries) the Atlanta Braves entrenched at the top of Miami’s NL East division, the Rockies are in a much more wide-open divisional race in the NL West.
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True, the L.A. Dodgers have spent more than the Gross Domestic Product of a small country, but after them any West division team could picture themselves snagging a wild-card berth.
The Marlins should be focused on developing their ample youth on the team and in the farm system and they have some talented pieces to surprise teams in 2014, though it is highly unlikely they’ll be playing in October.
For those patient fans comfortable with the youth movement (the Marlins jettisoned their stars in a mega-deal with Toronto last off-season), OF Christian Yelich and defensive infield whiz Adeiny Hechavarria are two others to keep a close eye on. Miami also imported established slugger Garrett Jones from Pittsburgh, which should help the middle of the order.
Colorado can set its sights a bit higher with their awesome positional core along with hopes of a repeat performance from 1B/corner OF Michael Cuddyer (batted .331 with 84 RBI and an on-base percentage pushing .400 in 2013) and a staff of arms anchored by a healthy Anderson and the return to health of Jhoulys Chacin.
With Cuddyer and acquisition Justin Morneau manning the one-bag, Colorado shouldn’t miss the retirement of franchise legend Todd Helton.
The hopes of Fernandez dominating on the rubber every fifth day and Stanton hitting tape-measure dingers are well-justified in southern Florida. There should still be plenty of growing pains for this young team.
The good news in the immediate future? Miami starts its 2014 regular season at home and its ace will be standing on the mound on Monday night.
That alone is enough for me to like the Marlins’s chances in Game 1 of 162.
Miami 5, Colorado 2
