Divisional Clash at the Bank: Phillies Prepare for Weekend Series Against Marlins
The Phillies will continue their 2025 season with a division clash with the Miami Marlins in Citizens Bank Park this weekend. Coming into the year, the Phillies have championship aspirations and are one of the top teams in baseball that are trying to compete for a championship. Through 19 games so far, the Phillies have looked unstoppable at times and extremely stoppable at other points. The team jumped out to a quick 7-2 start on the season and seemed on top of the world. However, the entire team went cold, resulting in two straight series losses against the Braves and Cardinals. The Phillies will finish their current series with the Giants on Thursday at 4:05 p.m. EDT, down 2-1 in the series. The Phillies will look to get back on track against the Marlins in a three-game series.
For the Marlins, the season started out well with a series win over the Pirates, but has gone downhill since. After their 3-1 series win, the Marlins lost three out of their next five series, including being swept by the Diamondbacks. The Marlins will look to bounce back against a tough division opponent in the Phillies. The Marlins’ offense is led by Xavier Edwards, who is batting 0.328 with six RBIs, and Matt Mervis, who is batting 0.275 and has hit six home runs on the season. It will be an all-hands-on-deck effort for the Marlins, who will be rolling out Sandy Alcantara for the opener against the Phillies. The matchup is huge for both teams, who want to get back on track for the season.
4/18 – 6:45 p.m. EDT
In the series opener, it will be the Phillies’ ace, Zack Wheeler, against Sandy Alcantara for the Marlins. For Alcantara this season, he has come out with a 2-0 record in three appearances. In each start, the Marlins have gone on to win each game and have provided run support to the former Cy Young winner in each. As for his individual performances, Alcantara has only gone as far as 5.2 innings in his starts compared to five innings and 4.2 innings in the other two starts. During those appearances, Alcantara accumulated a 4.70 ERA and recorded 12 strikeouts. As for Wheeler, he has been hot and cold this season so far. In his first two appearances, Wheeler pitched extremely well. Going six or more innings, striking out eight or more batters, and only allowing one run in each of the first two starts. As for his two more recent starts, he has struggled at times. In the two appearances, Wheeler gave up nine runs in 11.1 innings of work while only striking out 10 batters. The two most recent performances have ballooned Wheeler’s ERA up to 4.07. Wheeler will look to bounce back to early-season form against the Marlins on Friday.
4/19 – 1:05 p.m. EDT
In the pivotal second game, it will be Taijuan Walker getting the start for the Phillies against Cal Quantrill for the Marlins. For Walker, he has found success this season compared to the majority of the time he has been in Philadelphia. In the previous two seasons, Walker has struggled badly, having a 4.38 season in 2023 and a 7.10 ERA in 2024. However, this season, Walker has dropped his ERA down to 2.30 and has pitched two shutout performances out of his three starts. On the other hand, for Quantrill he struggled early in the season but bounced back. In his first appearance against the Mets, Quantrill got rocked as he only finished with four innings pitched. In those four innings, the Mets had eight hits and drove in six runs. After the first performance, Quantrill bounced back; he had gone five innings in both of his next appearances and only gave up a combined three runs. The Phillies’ offense will need to jump on Quantrill early and hopefully get the version of Walker from this season in the game.
4/20 – 1:35 p.m. EDT
For the series finale, it will be Jesus Luzardo for the Phillies against Connor Gillispie for the Marlins. Luzardo, the former Marlin, has been the MVP on the mound so far this season for the Phillies. In his four appearances, Luzardo has pitched well and has gone to at least the fifth inning in each of his starts. Across his starts, Luzardo has earned a 2.31 ERA and forced 29 strikeouts, sixth best in the MLB. The former Marlin will look to get revenge on his former team that traded him this offseason. As for Gillispie, his season has been far from what Luzardo has accomplished with the Phillies. This season, Gillispie has a 0-2 record to go along with a 6.63 ERA. In each of his starts, the Marlins have gone on to lose the game, and he has not reached further than the fifth inning in any of his starts. The Phillies will look to bounce back after a cold streak with a series win over the Marlins.
