According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark via Twitter, the Marlins have notified teams that they will not be trading right-hander Ricky Nolasco.

The Marlins have obviously been busy unloading their top players this season, as they dealt Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio to Toronto in a deal that saved the Marlins nearly $161 million. Nolasco, 29, went 12-13 last season with a 4.48 ERA and 125 strikeouts.

Marlins first baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison could be available in a trade. (AP)

In the aftermath of the trade that unloaded shortstop Jose Reyes and starters Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle to the Blue Jays, the Marlins may not be leaving the proverbial dust to settle. According to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (via twitter), there is an expectation that Miami will now trade right-hander Ricky Nolasco and first baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison.

Though Nolasco continues to have low walk rates and has been relatively durable, his impressive 2008 campaign — in which he went 15-8 with a 3.52 ERA — seems like something of a career outlier. In the last four years, he’s gone 49-43 with a 4.68 ERA (worse than league average), and his strikeout rate has gone down in each of the last three years, from 9.5 per nine innings in 2009 to 8.4 to 6.5 and finally to 5.9 in 2012. He is set to earn $11.5 million in 2013, the final season of a three-year, $26.5 million deal he signed before the 2011 season.

Morrison could represent an intriguing option for a Red Sox team that is without a first baseman or corner outfielder. The 25-year-old struggled to a .230 average, .308 OBP, .399 slugging mark and .707 OPS in 2012. However, those numbers reflected in no small part his struggles in an offense-killing home ballpark in Miami, where he hit .209/.278/.329/.608 with four homers in 176 plate appearances. On the road, he hit .254/.342/.478/.820 with seven homers in 158 plate appearances. In parts of three seasons, the left-handed hitting Morrison is a career .250/.339/.442/.781 hitter who has shown similar splits against both right-handed and left-handed hitters. However, he was limited to just 93 games in 2012 and missed the final two months of the year for a knee injury that ultimately required surgery in September. Read the rest of this entry »

Felix Doubront

In a rematch of last Wednesday’s game between the Red Sox and Marlins, the Red Sox will send young lefty Felix Doubront out to face righty Ricky Nolasco on Wednesday night at Fenway.

Doubront emerged the victor in the last matchup, as he no-hit the Marlins through 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits over his seven innings pitched. The Venezuelan recorded nine strikeouts and one walk in the game as he improved his record to 7-3 with a 4.17 ERA on the season.

Doubront used that start to bounce back from one of his few bad starts on the season, as he had only lasted four innings in his previous start against the Nationals, allowing six runs in the loss. He has been consistently good for the Red Sox besides that one bad start, as he leads the team in strikeouts with 81.

His last start was his first time facing any of the Marlins hitters, and he was relatively successful against most of them. Jose Reyes broke the no-hitter up in the sixth inning with a solo home run, but Doubront did not allow much more than that.

Nolasco, on the other hand, only had an average outing last Wednesday against the Red Sox. Nolasco lasted six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits. One of those hits was a solo shot from David Ortiz to left field.

The 29-year-old righty has had an up-and-down season and has lost his last two starts. After going 4-0 through his first six starts, Nolasco sits at 6-5 entering Wednesday’s matchup and he has a 4.37 ERA.

Nolasco has had some success against the Red Sox hitters he has faced, holding Adrian Gonzalez to a .278 batting average in 20 plate appearances. Kevin Youkilis and Ortiz have both homered off of Nolasco in their careers.

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Felix Doubront

Red Sox left-hander Felix Doubront will take the mound for Wednesday’s series finale with the Marlins in an effort to bounce back from his worst outing of the season.

Doubront (6-3) only lasted four innings in his last appearance against the Nationals, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks in the loss. The outing was his shortest of the season with only 82 pitches, and it raised his ERA from 3.75 to 4.34.

Despite only being in his first season in the starting rotation, the Venezuelan has been one of the most consistent starters for the Red Sox this season. He leads the team with 72 strikeouts and is tied for the most wins on the team with Clay Buchholz.

The 24-year-old will be making his interleague debut on Wednesday, and he has not faced any hitters on Miami’s roster.

Doubront will be facing off against Ricky Nolasco, who has had mixed results since starting the season 4-0 through his first six starts.

Nolasco (6-4) has a 4.36 ERA and 45 strikeouts with a decision in each of his last eight starts, going 4-4 in that time. Since May 12, though, Nolasco has struggled, going 2-4 with a 6.23 ERA and five home runs against.

Nolasco has only faced the Red Sox once in his career, earning the win in Boston in a game that was cut short by rain on June 18, 2009. Nolasco had only allowed one run on one hit through five innings before the game was called, giving the Marlins the 2-1 win at Fenway.

Kevin Youkilis has homered off of Nolasco, while Adrian Gonzalez has four hits in 15 at-bats.

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According to Dan Knobler of CBSSports.com, the Marlins are considering making closer Leo Nunez and starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco available for potential trades. That is, if the Marlins decide to become sellers.

At 43-48 entering the All-Star break, Florida could hold on to its assets if the team manages to get back to .500 before the July 31 trade deadline. With two series against the Cubs and Padres coming up, they might just do it.

Nunez leads the last-place Marlins with 25 saves, while Nolasco is 6-5 with a 3.70 ERA. Florida sits 14 games behind the Phillies in the NL East.

You can scratch another potential Yankee pitching target off the list as the Marlins have reportedly agreed to terms with Ricky Nolasco on a three-year contract extension worth $26.5 million. The deal locks up the core of the Marlins young staff with Josh Johnson signed for the next three seasons, as well.

There had been speculation that the Marlins might make Nolasco available if they couldn’t come to agreement on an extension.

The Red Sox head into Thursday’s game playing some of their best baseball of the season. Their starting rotation is firing on all (six?) cylinders (ignoring Matsuzaka’s struggles for the pun’s sake), they’ve scored at least six runs in their last four games, and they’ve got a big stick back in the form of one David Ortiz (.400 BA, .920 SLG, 4 HR since June 6).

MARLINS VS. JON LESTER (5-5, 4.76)

Meanwhile, Lester is on pace to absolutely demolish the team record for strikeouts by a lefty, as Alex Speier saw coming from a mile away. Bruce Hearst set the record back in 1987 with 190, but Lester projects to fan a whopping 239 this season.

The Marlins are generally unfamiliar with Lester. Here are the stats:

Wes Helms (3 career at-bats vs. Lester): 1-for-3, strikeout
Hanley Ramirez (3): 1-for-3, homer
Dan Uggla (3): 1-for-3

For what it’s worth, the Marlins as a team are second in the Majors with 540 strikeouts on the season.

Originally drafted by the Cubs in 2001, the California native was sent to Florida in a 2005 deal for Juan Pierre. After winning 15 games atop the Marlins rotation last season, Nolasco got off to a miserable start in the ’09 campaign. The month of May was especially brutal for the righty. In his last two starts of the month Nolasco gave up eight earned runs in consecutive losses to the Brewers (3.2 IP) and Rays (2 IP).

Since then, Nolasco has begun to show some signs of life, tossing back-to-back quality starts against the Giants and Blue Jays in the month of June (0-1). While current Red Sox starters are new to facing Nolasco, perhaps this could be an opportunity for Mark Kotsay to see some time in the outfield given his extra-base hits in both plate appearances against the 26-year-old.

Jason Bay (10): .200 average / .200 OBP / .200 slugging, strikeout
Julio Lugo (3): 1-for-3, strikeout
Rocco Baldelli (3): 0-for-3, strikeout
Mark Kotsay (2): 2-for-2, double, triple