NL East Opening Day Series Previews

Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado Rockies at Miami Marlins

Jose Fernandez will take the ball in his first Opening Day start for the Marlins against Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies.  Two of the worst National League teams in 2013 will square-off with one of them having a winning record after the first series.

The Marlins may not be much of a threat offensively, but their ace and reigning ROY will look to shut down a team who is without longtime first baseman Todd Helton after he retired following the end of last season.  Colorado replaced him with former Twin and Pirate Justin Morneau.

Another former Pirate in Garrett Jones will be manning first base for the Marlins.  He will try to help Giancarlo Stanton and young star Christian Yelich take down De La Rosa who went 16-6 last year for Colorado.  Yelich will be the probable starter in left field and get a full Major League season in.  He batted .288 in 62 games last season.  Stanton is hoping to rebound after injuries slowed him down in 2013; he still managed 24 home runs in 116 games.

Miami might not have much to play for after the all-star break, but they need to come out fighting from the start.  If they hope to have any chance of finding a miracle season out of this bunch of guys, they could benefit greatly from an opening series win and perhaps even a sweep over an NL West foe.