Miami Marlins at Cincinnati Reds Betting Preview

Another National League battle begins Thursday night at 7:10 PM EST at Great American Ballpark as the Cincinnati Reds (65-57) take on the struggling Miami Marlins (51-70).

The Reds continue their fight for a playoff spot. They are currently holding down the 2nd spot in the NL Central but are 9 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Cardinals are making a late-season push winning 8 of their last 10. The Cardinals are only 2 games back from the Reds at 3rd in the NL Central. The Reds are only 2 games out of the 2nd wild card spot.

The Marlins are at the bottom of the NL East. They are 13 games back from the braves in the division and 15 games out of a wild card spot. The Marlins are running out of time to turn this season narrative around.

Odds

The Reds are the favorite to win this game by a large margin with -1.5 (-110) to win and moneyline at -240 compared to the Marlins spread of +1.5 (-110) and +195 moneyline. The over/under for the total runs in Monday’s game is +/- 7.5.

The Reds totals have hit the over in 35 of the Reds’ 59 last games at home, and the Marlins have hit the over in 3 of their last 5 games. The Marlins are 31-30 on the road against the spread.

Season Series

This will be the first meeting of the season between these 2 teams. The Reds will travel to Miami next weekend to play a series away, as well.

Pitching

The Reds’ right-hander, Luis Castillo, will face off against Zach Thompson of the Marlins. Castillo is 6-12 on the season with a 4.51 ERA and 138 strikeouts. Thompson has pitched much fewer games with a record of 2-5 with a 2.91 ERA and 48 strikeouts. 

In Castillo’s last time out, he picked up a loss going 6.2 innings, letting up 5 hits and 3 runs against the Phillies. Thompson picked up a no-decision when he pitched last against the Cubs, going 6 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 run.

Previous Series Outcome

The Reds are coming off a series loss to the Cubs at home, where they won 1 and lost 2. The bats came alive in game 1 as they scored 14 runs but slowed quite a bit, only scoring 1 run in each of the final 2 games of the series.

The Marlins also lost their last series, getting swept by the division-leading Braves. The Marlins have struggled to get consistent pitching in their rotation all season. Their lack of scoring has also been the cause of their losses throughout the season.

Recent Injury Updates

Jesse Winker was placed on the 10-day IL with an intercostal strain which is the biggest injury setback right now for the Reds. With Winker going down with an injury, Jose Barrero (SS) was called up from Triple-A to take his spot on the roster.

For the Marlins, Jesus Sanchez was activated from the IL earlier this week after being sidelined with an injury since the All-Star break. The Marlins’ RHP Luis Madero was also called up as the #7 prospect for the Marlins, Braxton Garrett, was optioned to Triple-A.

The Reds Playoff Race Heating Up

The Cubs’ series was a huge missed opportunity for the Reds as the Cubs have three wins in the month of August, and two of them are now against the Reds. In order to keep themselves in the playoff hunt, the Reds will need to win the series that they are supposed to, against teams that are under .500.

The Reds have one of the easiest schedules left in all of baseball. They still have one big series against the Brewers, who have one of the hardest schedules to go. That series could decide how the divisional standings will end up.

The Marlins Look to Their Young Prospects For the Future

As the Marlins slowly inch closer to being officially eliminated from playoff contention, this is a great time for the Marlins’ management to look at some of the young prospects like Jorge Guzman in the organization to see what production they can provide.

Not only will the front office be able to see them play, but they will get some needed experience against ball clubs who are playing for October baseball. With Miami looking to rebuild, their focus has been shifted from this season to how they want to build and do things differently next season.

Keys to a Reds Win

Being so close to grabbing a wild card spot and playing against a team who is essentially out of the playoffs, the Reds know that this should be a winnable series and a possible sweep. With the Cardinals close in the hunt, the Reds don’t want to give them any opening to jump them in the divisional or wild card race. 

The Redlegs will need to replicate their hitting production that they processed in game 1 against the Cubs in these games against the Marlins. The pitching staff can’t give up another 10+ run series as they gave up 14 runs against a depleted Cubs team.

This series against the Marlins is as good of a time as ever to put the pressure on and get them back to their winning ways.