Detroit Tigers: Three Things to Know for Game 2 vs Marlins

Detroit Tigers baseball is back. The team recently pulled out an Opening Day victory over the Miami Marlins to start the season. Detroit will wrap up the brief two-game series with the Fish on Wednesday afternoon.

Detroit Tigers fans had to sit through another bullpen implosion, but the team came away victorious. The Tigers took some lumps before finally pulling out the win on the road.

The new-look bullpen (well, only Francisco Rodriguez really) blew a big lead and a strong start from Justin Verlander. Despite the outing, Rodriguez and the rest of the relievers—who actually pitched well in the win—should be fine moving forward.

Everyone has an off day. It happens folks.

Tuesday was just a case of K-Rod missing his spots.

After the extra-innings win on Tuesday, the Tigers will look to notch another victory in South Beach before traveling back to Detroit for the team’s home opener against the New York Yankees.

Detroit did a good job against Miami’s Opening Day starter Wei-Yin Chen, collecting nine hits and scoring five runs against the former Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher. Now the Tigers will get unquestioned Marlins ace Jose Fernandez in the second game of the season.

Fernandez didn’t start on Opening Day in an effort by the Marlins to monitor his innings this season.

Jose Fernandez vs the Detroit Tigers

Fernandez has never faced the Tigers in the regular season, but has been hit around in interleague play despite a 2.88 ERA in six starts.

In four combined starts against the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays, the 23-year-old has been tagged for 26 hits, 14 runs, three home runs and eight walks in only 19.1 innings pitched. He has also hit two batters over that span. Minnesota and Tampa Bay aren’t exactly offensive juggernauts, so if they can score runs off of Fernandez, Detroit has a chance to do some damage as well.

Of course, this is not discrediting Jose Fernandez, but with a lineup like the Tigers have, there is always potential to score in bunches. That’s what happens when you feature the likes of Ian Kinsler, Justin Upton, Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez on the same team.

Speaking of Upton, he is the only Detroit player to have faced Fernandez. In 10 at-bats against the Miami ace, the left fielder is 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts. Everyone is due at some point right?

Tigers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who will be making his Detroit debut on Wednesday, hasn’t face Fernandez, but was his teammate for two seasons. Salty has caught the Miami starter eight different times.

The Marlins against Sanchez

While Anibal Sanchez was dominant in his only start against the Marlins, a number of hitters on Miami’s roster have had considerable success against the right-handed pitcher.

In 35 at-bats against Sanchez, third baseman Martin Prado is a .412 hitter with a double, a home run, a walk and five RBI. Utility infielder Chris Johnson is a .417 hitter with two doubles in 12 at-bats. Additionally, second baseman Dee Gordon has two hits in three at-bats.

While those three have had success, there are some current Miami players who have struggled against Sanchez. Backup catcher Jeff Mathis is 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, while starting shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria is hitless in four at-bats, with only a walk to his name.

Slugging outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is hitless in two at-bats versus Sanchez. In one of those at-bats, he struck out.  Left fielder Christian Yelich has had slightly more success than his fellow outfielder in a similarly small sample size. In two at-bats, Yelich has a hit.

Hopefully Anibal Sanchez can have the same kind of success Wednesday as he had in his only other start against his former team.

Next: The Bullpen Will Be Fine. No Really, It Will Be.

With Jose Fernandez on the hill for Miami, Detroit can’t allow the Marlins to run up the score. That being said, Sanchez will need to be on his game when dealing with Prado, Johnson and Gordon.