I was fortunate enough to spend my Saturday watching the Marlins Spring Training game at Ft. Lauderdale Stadium. Despite the 4-2 final score, things were looking good for the Fish.
Ricky Nolasco looked great on the mound today, starting the game off with six strikes. I mean they were hammered in the zone. But after getting Oriole Nick Markakis to pop up, Marlins left fielder Jeremy Hermida got turned around too many times and suddenly Markakis is sliding into second with a double. Add insult to injury, the very next batter did the same to Hermida and before you know it the O’s pull to a 2-0 lead. And the fans let him have it. You wouldn’t believe it was a Spring Training game and the player the fans were booing was learning the position.
“We’ve been getting a lot of work in, shagging and batting practice,” Hermida explained after the game. “Just making sure I’m getting balls off the bat. But there are certain balls that you don’t get sometimes during batting practice that aren’t quite at game speed. Just a work in progress.”
Nolasco shrugged off what could have been an inning-ending pop fly and continued to pitch two more innings and run his pitch count to 54 (40 strikes). “It’s what we’re here for,” Nolasco said. “Work out the kinks. Everybody’s going to get better so you can’t get upset about things that are go during your first game of spring training.”
Then entered Josh Johnson. Both starters are capable of getting the ball on opening day and you got to imagine whoever has the better spring would get it (with an edge going to Nolasco for being lights out last season.) But whatever ground Nolasco earned, Johnson gained the same. Here are their lines:
Nolasco: 3 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 3 K’s
Johnson: 3 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 1 K
Near identical. So if you’re interested in what could be called the “Race To Standing on the mound during the National Anthem of Game One” so is manager Fredi Gonzalez. “ I thought they were outstanding, “Gonzalez said. “JJ was nails and Ricky was good. I think you just have to look at the overall: health. See how we are. It’s Spring Training and we still have a long 29 games left.”
Taylor Tankersley, who is fighting for a spot in the bullpen, struck out the side in the eighth inning. Tank appeared in just 25 games last season just after posting a career high 67 games in 2007. Kiko Calero pitched a scoreless seventh.
On the offensive side of the ball, Cam Maybin had some solid cuts despite going 1 for 4 at the plate. Hermida got a hold of a Radhames Liz pitch for a homer in the fourth inning. Wes Helms was a perfect 3-3 on the day, starting at first while Jorge Cantu played at 3rd. Alfredo Amezaga got the start at 2nd and was recorded an error on a grounder he charged very aggressively (probably would have waited back on it).
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Questions Abound Over Leadoff Candidates
The thought in the Marlins organization is to move Hanley Ramirez down to the third spot in the order so as to make him more of a run producer. I have said in the past that Hanley’s best spot in the lineup, the place he will see his value as a player maximized, is at the lead off spot. Hanley can hit home runs, extra base hits plus steal bases and cause general havoc out there. He can draw a pitcher’s attention and allow the second hitter to take advantage of an increased likelihood of mistakes as a result.
Yet, the Marlins brass seems to have amnesia.
Hanley’s move to the third spot in-season last year was disastrous. That said, there is the observation that Hanley has been able to add more muscle mass and seems to be preparing himself to become more of a run producer in this league than a table-setter.
So, this means the Marlins have to find a new lead off guy.
The edict out of spring training is to cut down on strikeouts. Marlins GM, Larry Beinfest, was recently quoted as acknowledging the increased strikeouts with alarm, saying that such at bats were a “finite event”. Good. But who will lead off?
Cameron Maybin is the center fielder of the future, if not right now, and his call up at the end of last season was a huge success. The question is, will he be able to keep up that kind of production for an entire season and can he do it by hitting at the top spot? His strike out numbers in the minors were quite high, so it seems that there is the probability that he will not put the ball in play as much as one would expect for a leadoff hitter. Spring training will serve as a good barometer.
Then there is the other candidate, kind of lurking in the background, Emilio Bonifacio – acquired from the Nationals as part of the Olsen/Willingham deal. Touted as a lead off hitter for the future for the Diamondbacks, Bonifacio puts up pretty good speed numbers (stolen bases) but also has a penchant to strike out quite a bit.
So the question remains, which one of these two guys will get the job of setting up the Marlins offense, and what kind of season can we expect? Don’t you just love spring training?