Failure may be hereditary as the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins prepare to face off in Florida for a three-game set. The pair were the two expansion teams that began in 1993 and for the majority of their existences have largely been filled with failure. A main difference however is that the Marlins have a pair of World Series titles to their credit while the Rockies have made just one trip to the Fall Classic where they were swept in 2007. Both teams are comfortably at the bottom of their respective divisions and have two of the worst records in the league to begin the year.

The Rockies enter the series after getting swept by the Houston Astros in a two-game set over the weekend in Mexico City while the Marlins lost another series against the Washington Nationals and were in the midst of a six-game losing streak before their series finale against the Nationals on Monday. Wins have been hard to come by for these two teams so which team comes out on top will be quite telling.

Here are a few things to watch in Miami.

Pitching Probables*

4/30: Ryan Feltner (1-2, 5.68 ERA) vs. TBD

5/1: TBD vs TBD

5/2: TBD vs TBD

*Subject to change as pitchers were unknown at time of writing

Series victory

Due to the lack of success for both the Rockies and the Marlins. Neither team has successfully won a series this season. The Rockies split a four-game series against the San Diego Padres and the Marlins split a series with the Chicago Cubs but that’s been about it for either team. The Marlins didn’t get their first win until their 10th game of the season and neither team has managed to string together consecutive wins. This three-game set presents a guaranteed chance to finally win a series and potentially muster some good vibes moving forward.

Playing from behind

On Sunday the Rockies tied the modern era record with 28 consecutive games in which they have trailed to begin the season. They are tied with the St. Louis Browns who reached that unfavorable mark in 1910 and the Rockies aren’t looking to take the record from them. One of the major flaws for the Rockies has been their performance in the first inning. They sport an MLB-worst 11.89 ERA in the first inning in which they have surrendered 37 runs on 45 hits, including an MLB-leading 11 home runs, with 21 walks and 19 strikeouts. Ryan Feltner, who starts game one of the series, has surrendered 11 of his 18 runs in the first inning. The team’s failure in the first inning has put them in a hole early which makes it tough to crawl back out from. When they do manage to get a lead first, pitching is unable to hold it as the offense struggles to keep the foot on the gas pedal. Pitching and hitting have to find a way to take a lead and hold it throughout the game to prevent the need to play the comeback kids.

Power outage

The Rockies and Marlins have shown a lack of firepower to start the year as they rank near the bottom of the league in that department. As a unit, the Marlins aren’t exactly built for power a focus on contact has lead them to rank in the lower half of the league in strikeouts. However, an aggressive approach as also resulted in the fewest walks at the plate and a sub-par slash line. The Rockies hoped for more power, but an overabundance of strikeouts has resulted in the team placing near the top of the league in that department as they have been unable to make meaningful contact to hit for power. Despite playing in Mexico City over at an elevation of 7,300 feet, the Rockies managed just a single home run in the first inning of the first game. Power isn’t likely to feature much in this series, meaning that teams will have to string together hits and craft runs in other ways.

Mike Honcho

The Rockies are reportedly calling up their No. 4 prospect Jordan Beck to the big league roster when the series begins on Tuesday. Beck was drafted 38th overall in 2022 and has stormed through the minor league system, including clubbing 25 home runs across two level in 2023, his first full year as a professional. He started the year in Triple-A Albuquerque where he has an OPS over .900 and has been an extra-base machine for the Isotopes. While the Pacific Coast League is quite hitter-friendly, Beck has earned high praises from the organization, including Hall of Famer Todd Helton who also hails from the University of Tennessee. With Nolan Jones likely headed to the injured list, the Rockies will need to make another corresponding move to add him to the 40-man roster.