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The NL Wild Card series between the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies gets underway on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch for Game 1 from Philly’s Citizens Bank Park is set for 7:08 p.m. ET. Before these teams take the field, though, let’s go over which notable players may not be able to do so. These are two pretty healthy teams overall — season-ending ailments to Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez notwithstanding — but there’s one big question mark on the Miami side hanging over this series.
Marlins lineup and injury news
INF Luis Arraez
Arraez, the engine atop Miami’s lineup all year, is still on the mend from an ankle sprain suffered while walking down the dugout stairs a couple of weeks ago. The infielder was spotted moving gingerly and wearing an ankle brace at Citi Field last week, but he made a pinch-hit appearance over the weekend in Pittsburgh, his first game action in six days. He’s yet to make a start for the Fish, but manager Skip Schumacher sounded optimistic.
“He looked a lot better,” Schumaker said this past Saturday. “I needed to see better ground balls. The ground-ball work, and the range, and the plant and throw, double-play plant and throw, the first step to get to attack play, that kind of thing. He checked a lot of boxes today. It was a really good day for him, and so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
The first player to win consecutive batting titles in different leagues — he hit .354 with a 133 OPS+ this Marlins offense desperately needs his on-base ability if they want to hang in this series.
Phillies lineup and injury news
1B Rhys Hoskins
Philly enters October with about as clean a bill of health as you could hope for. If there’s one injury-related question mark, it’s whether Hoskins — who tore his ACL in spring training — could return if the team makes it all the way to the World Series. The Phillies have left that door open for now, but it remains to be seen.