Rays vs Marlins Picks and Odds (April 2)
By Robert Duff in MLB Baseball
Published:
- The Tampa Bay Rays are -110 favorites over the Miami Marlins in their MLB game on Friday, April 2nd
- Ryan Yarbrough takes the mound for Tampa Bay
- Pablo Lopez is on the hill for Miami
Not only did the Tampa Bay Rays launch the MLB season with a win over the Miami Marlins, they still haven’t conceded a run. Tyler Glasnow pitched the visiting Rays to a 1-0 victory over the Marlins in the season opener for both of Florida’s MLB clubs.
The victory was Tampa Bay’s 11th in the last 12 games against Miami. The last three victories by the Rays over the Marlins have all been one-run decisions. Prior to those games, the Marlins were 1-7 on the runline in losses to the Rays.
Lefty Ryan Yarbrough, 1-4 with a 3.56 ERA last season, takes the mound for the Rays on Friday. The Marlins will counter with right-hander Pablo Lopez. He was 6-4 in 2020 with a 3.61 ERA.
First pitch is slated for 7:10pm ET at LoanDepot Park.
Rays vs Marlins Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total at DraftKings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays | -110 | -1.5 (+155) | O 7.5 (-107) |
| Miami Marlins | -105 | +1.5 (-190) | U 7.5 (-114) |
Odds as of April 2nd.
Spring Meadows
One positive development for the defending American League champion Rays in Wednesday’s season opener was that outfielder Austin Meadows went deep for the game’s only run.
In the eighth inning, Meadows turned on a 2-0 pitch from reliever Yimi GarcÃa and crushed it 419 feet over the fence in right-center field.
In 2019, Meadows clouted 33 home runs. Last season, as his year was derailed first by COVID-19 and later by an oblique injury, Meadows homered just four times in 36 games.
Injury Report
Tampa Bay placed first baseman Ji-Man Choi and outfielder Brett Phillips on the 10-day injured list. Choi underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Wednesday. He’s expected to be out 3-5 weeks.
Rays 1B, Ji-man Choi is out until May as he'll have arthroscopic surgery on his sore right knee. pic.twitter.com/7cKr0FLpfj
— Floodsters Sports Zone (@FloodstersZ) March 30, 2021
With Choi out, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Yandy Diaz, and Mike Brousseau will split time at first base. Phillips is battling a left hamstring strain.
Florida right-hander Sixto Sanchez is suffering from right arm soreness.
Lopez Made Mark in 2020
Lopez finished 2020 with a 1.19 WHIP and 59 strikeouts against 11 walks over 57.1 innings pitched.
COVID-19 sidelined Sandy Alcantara and Jose Urena each for a month of the two-month season. Caleb Smith was dealt to Arizona for outfielder Starling Marte.
Pablo Lopez wants to hit a home run this year.
He also wants to make 32-33 starts and eclipse 200 innings.
— Ethan Budowsky (@ethanbudowsky) April 1, 2021
That left Lopez, with 170 innings pitched at the MLB level entering the 2020 season as Miami’s most experienced starting pitcher.
Rays Career Stats vs Lopez
| Player | AB | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willy Adames | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Randy Arozarena | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Mike Brosseau | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Yandy Diaz | 3 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Kevin Kiermaier | 4 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
| Brandon Lowe | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Manuel Margot | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Austin Meadows | 4 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Francisco Mejia | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Daniel Tsutsugo | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 |
| Joey Wendle | 8 | 1 | 1 | .500 |
| Mike Zurino | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Lopez was the only pitcher in the Marlins rotation for all 60 games of the regular season. Take away an embarrassing 29-9 loss to the Atlanta Braves and his ERA in his other 10 starts was 2.54.
The 25-year-old right-hander added a breaking pitch to his arsenal of fastball, sinker, cutter and changeup. Lopez allowed four runs on 13 hits with a 9/1 K/BB ratio across four starts covering 13.2 innings during spring training.
Yarbrough Revving up to Starting
Often deployed as a follower to an opener earlier in his career, last season Rays manager Kevin Cash allowed Yarbrough to start more games.
The matchup of the century
Charlie Morton vs. Ryan Yarbrough pic.twitter.com/vml1eO2KPn
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) March 28, 2021
Though he recorded just one win, the southpaw posted a 40.8% chase rate to tie Minnesota’s Kenta Maeda for the MLB lead in that category.
Marlins Career Stats vs Yarbrough
| Player | AB | HR | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jesus Aguilar | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Jorge Alfaro | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Brian Anderson | 6 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Jon Berti | 5 | 0 | 1 | .400 |
| Lewis Brinson | 2 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| Jazz Chisholm Jr | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Garrett Cooper | 3 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Corey Dickerson | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Adam Duvall | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Starling Marte | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Miguel Rojas | 5 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Magneuris Sierra | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Chad Wallach | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
He’s 0-1 with a 2.63 ERA in three career appearances against Miami, including a pair of starting assignments.
Pick: Miami Marlins (-108)
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
