Marlins Plan Bullpen Game For Series Opener Versus Nationals

The Miami Marlins had to scramble their rotation plans this morning due to injury

Miami Marlins relief pitcher Anthony Bender is a safe bet to get some innings today after the team lost announced starter Jesús Luzardo to elbow soreness. / Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins would love some good news right now.  

On the heels of being swept in their midweek series to the Atlanta Braves to drop to an NL-East worst 6-20 (12.5 GB), they also (potentially) lost starter Jesús Luzardo for the season due to  “elbow discomfort”, announcing this morning that he was being scratched from this start and being sent for further evaluation. 

So it’s a bullpen game for tonight’s series opener against the Washington Nationals, with righty Anthony Maldonado being called up to kick things off against Nats righty Trevor Williams.   

Lineups for the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals on Friday, April 26th

Here's how Miami will line up for the contest:

2B Luis Arraez
DH Bryan De La Cruz
CF Jazz Chisholm Jr.
1B Josh Bell
RF Jesús Sánchez
SS Tim Anderson
LF Nick Gordon
3B Vidál Bruján
C Nick Fortes

Maldonado hasn’t been a starter since college, when he made 39 of his 41 starts for Bethune-Cookman (2017-2019), and hasn’t pitched more than two innings in any outing this season, so don’t expect a standard start for his MLB debut. Given Miami’s bullpen usage this week - Sixto Sanchez went 59 pitches as the opener on Wednesday night versus Atlanta - Declan Cronin (39 pitches this week, but hasn’t pitched since Tuesday) and Anthony Bender (only 20 pitches this week and hasn’t thrown since Tuesday) both figure to get plenty of run in this one. 

Here's Washington’s lineup:

SS CJ Abrams
LF Jesse Winker
1B Joey Meneses
2B Luis García Jr
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Eddie Rosario
DH Joey Gallo
3B Trey Lipscomb
CF Jacob Young

Trevor Williams is 2-0 this year with a 2.91 ERA in his four starts, having struck out eighteen and walked six in his 21.2 innings. He made a whopping four starts against Miami last season, going 0-3. The final one, coming on September 2nd, was the worst: nine runs (eight earned) on twelve hits in just four innings. He was taken deep four times, with Jake Burger (twice), Bryan De La Cruz, and Jesús Sánchez all getting the best of him. 

How to Watch the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals on Friday, April 26th

Today's series opener is scheduled for 7:10 PM ET and the roof of loanDepot Park is open. There’s a full suite of broadcast options: In-market, the Marlins broadcast tonight is on Bally Sports Florida and the Nationals are on MASN2, with out-of-market fans being able to watch on MLB.tv. For audio, the Miami broadcast is available on Fox Sports 940AM (WINZ) and WAQI 710, while the Nationals are on WDCH 99.1 & DC 87.7.