A Tale of Two Offenses: The Matchup in Miami Today

Oakland A’s at Miami Marlins (4:10 PM ET)

Listen, 8.5 runs is not a high number for an ordinary ballgame, but for this game it’s practically Mt. Everest. Oakland has failed to score more than 2 runs in twelve of the past 14 games. In 11 of those past 14 A’s games, the Under has cashed. Since May 15, the A’s wRC+ is 53. That’s right…53, last in the league by a long shot. The Marlins offense, on the other hand, was much more effective in that same time period (111 wRC+ since May 15), even if they have managed only seven total runs in their last three games.

Today, Miami sends rookie starter Eury Perez to the mound, a young pitcher with lots of potential. His 2.84 ERA is possibly due for some negative regression (as his 4.83 SIERA suggests), but that’s not likely to happen today against this anemic A’s offense. Also not insignificant—Perez’s game last Sunday against the Angels (a much more potent offense than the A’s) was a thing of beauty—5 innings pitched, no runs, two hits, K’s against Trout and Ohtani. There is a lot of optimism about Perez in Miami, as there should be. The A’s will counter by sending Luis Medina to the mound. There’s nothing good to say about his 6.43 ERA of course. That number could be rather overinflated; Medina’s 4.23 xFIP is actually the best among Oakland starters, and his respectable 4.43 SIERA and 1.25 WHIP are 3rd best on the staff. But this is a pretty weak staff, and the Marlins will test it today for sure.