The Los Angeles Dodgers continue their East Coast road trip with a series against the Miami Marlins as they look to start a winning streak after two straight wins against the Atlanta Braves.
The Dodgers send Bobby Miller to the mound to start the series in what could be a make or break outing for him. Outside of a dominant start against the St. Louis Cardinals in his 2024 debut, Miller’s sophomore season has been filled with struggles.
The right-hander was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in July and only returned to the team the following month because of numerous injuries affecting the starting rotation. Miller is also pitching through a left knee injury himself.
With all that together, he owns an 8.17 ERA, 7.13 FIP, 1.69 FIP, 20.5% strikeout rate and 11.9% walk rate in 54 innings.
Miller has given up at least six runs in each of his last two outings, and Roberts indicated this could be his final start for the club this year after his last outing against the Chicago Cubs.
“He’s going to get another start, and then we’ll see from there,” Roberts answered when asked if Miller is staying in the rotation.
However, that was before Tyler Glasnow’s season likely came to an end, so Miller may be around to finish out the regular season regardless.
Miller faces a weak Marlins offense that have score just 567 runs this season, which ranks second to last in MLB, ahead of only the historically awful Chicago White Sox. The Dodgers are second in MLB with 751 scored.
Overall, the Marlins are hitting just .240/.296/.370 as a team this season. To compare, Austin Barnes is batting .261/.327/.306 and Jason Heyward hit .208/.289/.393 before being released by the Dodgers.
If Miller cannot turn in an effective start against the Marlins, the Dodgers may be better off seeing what they have in almost anyone else in Triple-A for a start, such as Ben Casparius.
The Marlins counter with Darren McCaughan, who also has not had any success this season, posting a 7.06 ERA in 29.1 innings with a 1.81 WHIP and just 15 strikeouts.
McCaughan has not pitched past the fifth inning in his three starts this year, and he also made five appearances as a reliever before joining the rotation to start September. As a starter, he’s thrown 14.2 innings while allowing 10 runs, including at least three in each start.
Opponents are hitting .309 against the right-hander since he joined the rotation, and he has registered just seven strikeouts while giving up 17 hits.
Hunter Feduccia is also getting his first start since being recalled for the injured Austin Barnes.
Dodgers lineup
DH: Shohei Ohtani
RF: Mookie Betts
1B: Freddie Freeman
LF: Teoscar Hernández
3B: Max Muncy
CF: Tommy Edman
2B: Gavin Lux
SS: Miguel Rojas
C: Hunter Feduccia
Marlins lineup
SS: Xavier Edwards
3B: Connor Norby
LF: Jesus Sanchez
1B: Jake Burger
DH: Jonah Bride
CF: Kyle Stowers
2B: Otto Lopez
RF: Griffin Conine
C: Nick Fortes
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