Mervis has homered in four of his last five games but will take a seat with left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound. The Marlins will hope that his bat stays hot on Friday against Zack Wheeler and the Phillies. Eric Wagaman will start at first base and bat cleanup on Thursday. Wagaman has some intriguing batted ball data this season and could be an interesting deep league fantasy option with Jonah Bride no longer in Miami, but with Jesus Sanchez and Connor Norby now off the IL, it’s unclear how Miami will set their lineup against right-handed pitching.

loanDepot Park in Miami is not an easy place to hit the ball out of. Not only did Mervis accomplish that feat, he smacked the ball off the facing of the second deck out in right field. That was Mervis’ sixth home run of the season which pulled him into a 10-way tie for third-most in the league. His nearly 40% strikeout rate is unsustainable, but there’s no denying that he’s crushing the ball right now.

Mervis put the Marlins on the board with a solo homer off Trevor Williams to lead off the second inning. The 26-year-old first baseman is taking advantage of his playing time against right-handed pitching, slashing .281/.333/.656 with four homers and eight RBI over 36 plate appearances.