Florida @ Arizona preview
Chase Field
Last Meeting ( Jul 9, 2010 ) Florida 3, Arizona 2
Atlanta Braves slugger Jason Heyward was elected to the All-Star team and Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg seems to make national headlines each time he hits the mound.
Lost in the shadows is a Florida Marlins rookie who deserves similar attention, but he is playing in virtual anonymity.
Gaby Sanchez is having a wonderful first half of the season while playing first base for the Marlins, but not many outside of fantasy geeks and Florida fans know it.
After playing in 26 games at the major-league level the previous two seasons, Sanchez is taking advantage of his first full season with the big-league club.
The 26-year-old Sanchez is hitting .299 with 20 doubles, nine home runs and 38 RBIs. He ranks in the top five among rookies in the National League in most offensive categories.
The right-handed swinging Sanchez, who has a .366 on-base percentage, fits in well in the No. 2 hole with the hard-swing middle of the lineup Florida sends out there each day.
Hanley Ramirez, Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla have more than 150 RBIs combined - and Sanchez has played his part - as has last season’s NL Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan, who is the team's leadoff hitter.
The Marlins have won four of the last six games entering Saturday’s contests against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Florida will try to keep the mini-hot streak going with left-hander Nate Robertson on the mound.
Robertson is 6-6 on the season, but has seen his ERA raise almost a full run over the last seven starts to 4.94 from 4.05.
The nine-year pro has had endured mixed results, but when Robertson fails to show up without his good stuff, he tends to get pounded.
Arizona right-hander Ian Kennedy (3-7, 4.16 ERA) will take the mound on Saturday and will be looking to find some consistency.
Early in the year, Kennedy was the team’s best starter and looked to be a steal from the New York Yankees, but he has really stumbled lately.
Kennedy has lost his last four starts and hasn’t won since May 19, but it has turned ugly in his last two starts. During that time, he has issued nine walks in one start and followed it up by allowing seven earned runs in the next.