When it comes to spring training, don’t believe everything you see
The Marlins had their way with Nationals ace Max Scherzer last year in spring training. They lit him up, handing him a pair of losses by clobbering four home runs and scoring 10 earned runs in his 12 total innings.But the veteran Marlins knew it was all a spring mirage.
And when Miguel Rojas returned to the dugout during one onslaught against the three-time Cy Young Award winner, he served warning to a pair of the Marlins’ unknowing rookies.
“I told them don’t get fooled by the Scherzer you’re facing today,” Rojas told them. “This is not what you’re going to face during the season.”
Sure enough, Scherzer went 5-0 against the Marlins last season.
“He turned it up,” Rojas said.
In other words, don’t believe everything you see in spring training. It’s a season of deception, one that begins today for the Marlins when they kick off their Grapefruit League slate against the Cardinals.
“Spring is about preparing,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly. “Although you want your guys to do everything right, you’re still not preparing for a game the way you would during the regular season.”
Spring statistics, in turn, should be dismissed.
Remember Ralph Milliard? Unless you’re a die-hard Marlins fan with a long memory, you probably don’t.
Milliard led the Marlins with a .531 average during spring training of 1997. But that wasn’t enough to sway then-manager Jim Leyland. Milliard didn’t survive the spring cuts and finished his career with a .172 average.
Or take Abraham Nunez. He tore up it up for the Marlins in the spring of 2004, hitting eight home runs, driving in 18 runs, and finishing with a staggering OPS of 1.394.
Every time then-manager Jack McKeon was asked about Nunez’s chances of making the Opening Day roster, he shrugged his shoulders. McKeon knew better.
After the season started, Nunez hit .172 with one home run before being traded.
And Josh Booty. Remember him? He spurned football when the Marlins drafted him with the fifth overall pick in 1994. He drove in 18 runs one spring. But Booty turned out to be a flop, gave up baseball and went on to play quarterback at LSU under Nick Saban.
Even as recently as last year, the Marlins had a player who blossomed in the spring but wilted in the summer. His name: rookie Lewis Brinson.
Brinson, the centerpiece for the Marlins in their offseason trade with the Brewers for Christian Yelich, hit .328 in the Grapefruit League. His regular-season average: .199.
There are a number of reasons wspring sensations turn out to be fool’s gold. Pitchers, such as Scherzer last year, aren’t throwing their best stuff. Rojas recalls a spring game last year against Boston in which Red Sox hurler Chris Sale threw almost nothing but changeups.
“The pitchers at that level, they know how to get ready for what they want to accomplish,” Rojas said. “It’s not even close to what it is during the season — effort wise, pitches, command.”
Spring training games, especially those early on, feature so many substitutions that by game’s end, team’s are playing their minor-leaguers, some wearing uniforms that don’t even contain names on their backs.
And younger players, eager to make an impression, are more likely to be giving it everything they’ve got while a veteran — knowing he has cemented a spot on the roster — might be content with trying out a new batting stance or throwing a new type of pitch.
“Just take Scherzer,” Mattingly said. “We faced him last spring, but it’s not the same guy. He’s got a season ahead of him, he knows he’s going to throw 200-something innings. He’s not really going to pitch you the way he would during the regular season.”
The Marlins learned that spring lesson all too well.
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This story was originally published February 22, 2019 at 2:21 PM.
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