TONY FINN SAT NL PRIVATE PLAY (10-1)
Game: (959) Miami Marlins at (960) Atlanta Braves
Date/Time: Apr 6 2019 7:20 PM EDT
Betting Line Provider:
Pinnacle
Play Rating: 4%
Play: Total Under 8.5 (+103)
View Analysis
PLAY: Under the Total of 8.5 (good to 8)
4% game rating
LIST PITCHERS: Alcantara and Wright
Miami at Atlanta tonight is nearly pitcher perfect for a baseball game. 5-10 mph winds blowing in from left-center and 70 degree temps at first pitch. And pitcher friendly Andy Fletcher calling balls and strikes.
Marlins RH Sandy Alcantara (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Braves RH Kyle Wright (0-1, 6.23)
The following statement is not directed at Miami Marlins fans because it won't sink in for most, albeit the savvy, but the Fish are not going to win a lot of games this year and are a team that I and others have pinpointed to lose 100-plus.
The rebuild that the Marlins are going through does offer one investment quality asset and that is the team's pitching staff, young, and talented. Alcantara is one of those arms in Miami that should be closely watched and spot played as a significant dog and in totals, be it over or under, depending on the matchup.
The Braves send Wright to the hill coming off a loss against a good Phillies lineup and in Philly.
The Miami pitchers have issued just 20 walks through eight games. The staff has been directed to challenge hitters regardless of count. There will be no wasting an 0-2 pitch.
The Fish throw Sandy Alcantara to the mound for his second start. The Miami youngster was solid in his first. He tossed a gem against the Rockies with 8.0 shutout innings and six strikeouts. He allowed just four hits and didn’t walk anyone, which is a 180 from his primary struggle a seasons ago, albeit only 34 innings.
Watching Alcantara weave his magic was not just fun it was encouraging... for a fan of baseball.. regardless of team. Alcantara mixed his pitches like a veteran. He has four solid pitches but his trio he used in the season opener was his fastball, curveball, and slider 29, 24, and 19 times respectively. He saved his sinker for the right moments and it was, by all measure, equal to the effectiveness of his slider. Alcantara threw his sinker 13 times and also offered six changeups. His slider was charted as the effective pitch with four swinging strikes and four called strikes on his 19 offerings. The Rockies (a very talented offense) rarely made hard contact with Alcantara's offerings. In Alcantara's 8 innings the average exit velocity of the Roks bats, when they made fair play contact, was 77 MPH.
Kyle Wright threw just 4.2 innings and allowing just two hits. He walked five in the outing. But note, the weather in Philly for Wright's start was cool and windy and it is the reason the youngster threw over 70 percent of his pitches via the fastball. And while most know very little about Wright he is not just a warm body filling a slot in the rotation due to injuries. He is a highly regarded prospect... and the conditions in Philly for his opener will be contrary to tonight's in Atlanta. Expect him to mix his bag of tricks and have enough stamina to push 6-plus innings to his boxscore line... which means he will have been successful.
Andy Fletcher is scheduled to be behind the plate tonight at SunTrust Park. Fletcher has been a middling home plate ump in his career. This if you don't venture beyond the surface numbers of his balls and strikes. The truth is that his strike zone is one of the larger in the league, especially when it comes to pitchers that have electric fastballs. And tonight's situation puts Fletcher in the driver’s seat to call a quick contest with two starters attacking the K-zone.
Fletcher is 1-0 this season-- to the home team -- and has 21 strike outs to just 5 walks in his only start behind home plate. That game was the Colorado Rockies at the Tampa Bay Ray. The trio of starters in the game were Bettis (5.2 innings) for the Roks and Stanek/Yarbrough (combined for 5.1 innings) for the Rays. The three pitched a total of 11 innings and registered 11 strikeouts. When you have an umpire like Fletcher, who also has one of the per game time logs (meaning quick games by the hours and minute measure) you are set up for success when expecting a low scoring and quickly played game.
TOTAL UNDER 8.5 runs