How Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly balances his spring training lineups
Every day is a jigsaw puzzle.
Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly has 68 players at his disposal as the team goes through its 30-game Spring Training schedule.
He has starting jobs to sort out. He has top prospects he needs to see in action against Major League talent. He has non-roster invitees he wants to get a look at.
So how does he balance it all?
A board in his office is a nice start. Planning ahead aids in the challenge, too.
Before the Marlins played their first exhibition game on Saturday, an 11-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, Mattingly already had the lineups for the first five days solidified.
“As you’re going through camp, you can kind of stay ahead of it,” Mattingly said, “but you also see ‘OK, this guy’s played three in a row.’ If you don’t have it up, all of a sudden, you don’t know who’s played and who hasn’t. This way, it always ends up being pretty good. The at-bats always end up being pretty good and you know you’re not running these guys out there too many days in a row.”
Some of the spots are easy to figure out. His starting pitchers will follow their usual regiment and go about every five days. He’s starting them off easy; two innings, about 35 pitches in their first game and then slowly increase the pitch count.
Sandy Alcantara held his own on Saturday, throwing two scoreless innings while striking out three on 31 pitches. Trevor Richards will pitch Monday in the Marlins’ road game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton. Jose Urena, who has been tabbed as the Opening Day starter, is pitching Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte.
Seven to eight relief pitchers will be available on any given day, most throwing one or two innings.
The starting lineup usually plays about five or six innings and gets two plate appearances before being replaced by reserves.
“You know your guys aren’t playing out there very long,” Mattingly said. “You’ve got basically two lineups every day.”
His starting lineup in Saturday’s opener — which included Jorge Alfaro at catcher, Neil Walker at first base, Starlin Castro at second, Miguel Rojas at short, Brian Anderson at third, Austin Dean in left field, Rosell Herrera in center field, Peter O’Brien in right field and Lewis Brinson at designated hitter — was predicated based on players who wouldn’t be on the two-day road trip to Bradenton and Port Charlotte.
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