The curious case of Adam Conley and his struggles against left-handed hitters
Before Kris Bryant made his way to the batter’s box in the ninth inning and before he eventually blasted a walk-off home run into the center-field seats at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night, Miami Marlins reliever Adam Conley could have saved himself some trouble.
Two lefties, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber, led off the inning for the Chicago Cubs.
Conley, a left-handed reliever, should have been in his element.
Instead, his troubles in these situations continued.
He walked Heyward, hit Schwarber and then gave up the game-winning homer three batters later in the Marlins’ 5-2 loss to the Cubs.
“This inning in particular,” Conley said, “I didn’t give myself a chance.”
It has been a recurring theme in the curious case of Conley’s early-season struggles.
Left-handed batters are hitting .467 off of Conley this season, going 14 for 30 with three walks. For comparison, lefties hit just .179 (14 for 78) off Conley in 2018, his first season in the bullpen after being a starter for the first three years of his MLB career. He is holding right-handed batters to just a .214 batting average.
But despite the struggles, Conley is optimistic his struggles are more a result of small sample size and bad luck than it is him having issues with his command.
“For the most part, a lot of the hits I have given up, I’d throw that same pitch again,” Conley said. “We’re seeing that long-term, over a much-bigger sample size that a lot of those pitches don’t get hit that way.”
As of late, though, they have been hit. Conley has given up multiple hits in six of his 17 appearances this year. He has an 8.10 ERA over 13 1/3 innings.
“I’m just trying to improve all the time,” Conley said. “Where the ball falls, who’s standing there, none of that really matters. I’m just trying to be the best that I can be.”
Ending the slump
Starlin Castro’s infield single in the sixth inning against the Cubs on Tuesday snapped a 0-for-29 hitting slump that has plagued the second baseman for the last eight games.
The offensive drought lowered his batting average to .210 after being at .269 before the slump began.
Something to note about the slump: Castro struck out just one time in that stretch.
Injury update
The Marlins placed right-handed reliever Drew Steckenrider on the 10-day Injured List with right elbow inflammation and recalled Jose Quijada from Triple A New Orleans.
Steckenrider, who has thrown 14 1/3 innings over 15 appearances, felt stiffness in his elbow after his last relief stint in Monday’s 6-5 come-from-behind win over the Cubs. He is returning to Miami and will undergo tests there.
Steckenrider has has a shaky start to the season. He’s holding opponents to just a .173 batting average — the best on the Marlins’ staff — but of the nine hits he has given up, six have been home runs.
Quijada is now on his second stint with the Marlins after being called up for three days over the Marlins’ last road trip. He threw one inning over two appearances, striking out three while giving up just one hit and one walk.
▪ Garrett Cooper played a rehab game Wednesday with the Jupiter Hammerheads, the Marlins Class A Advanced affiliate. He is on the 10-day IL with a left-hand contusion.
Sixto’s next start
Sixto Sanchez, the Marlins’ top prospect, will make his second start for the organization on Thursday in Jupiter. The right-handed pitcher hopes to improve on a solid debut in which he threw five innings, giving up just two runs while scattering six hits.
This story was originally published May 8, 2019 at 7:17 PM.
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