Cincinnati Reds at Miami Marlins 8/3/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Cincinnati Reds will close out a series on the road at loanDepot park when they go up against the Miami Marlins. The Reds have won three straight games, but remain one of the bottom feeders of the league, even more so with the selling at the trade deadline. Miami has lost four straight, and will likely miss the playoffs in a strong division, but have shown signs of improvement. Miami is 47-56 which leaves them three spots out of the wildcard if the season ended today.

Cincinnati was a seller at the deadline with third baseman Brandon Drury going to San Diego; he led the team in home runs, batting average, and RBIs. Cincinnati has actually been a solid offense averaging 4.38 runs per game ranking 16th in the scoring offense and it’s likely that it’s only going to get worse post-deadline.

The left-handed Mike Minor will get the start and as he continues to age, it’s been a struggle this season. Minor is 1-7 with a 6.31 ERA and 1.58 WHIP, all three of which would be the worst numbers of his career. He’s coming off a decent outing allowing two runs on four hits in 5.1 innings, the Reds still lost 6-2 but it was one of Minor’s better outings in July.

Miami is a little further along in their rebuild than Cincinnati and they have a future star in second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. Chisholm Jr. will not play in this game due to a back injury, and will miss extended time which is a huge hit to the Marlins – both at the plate and in the field. Miami as a team is 24th in scoring offense averaging g3.95 runs per game, but has scored just two runs per game in their four game losing streak.

Miami will send out their ace in right-handed Sandy Alcantara who has continued to be a dominant and reliable member of the Marlins’ pitching staff. Alcantara is 9-4 on the year, but is second in the MLB in ERA (1.99), ninth in strikeouts (138), and sixth in WHIP (0.94). It was a rough last outing against the Mets, allowing four runs on eight hits and was handed the loss.