Marlins spring training games begin Saturday. And they have their 1st starting pitcher
The Miami Marlins’ starting pitcher to begin the 2020 season is still to be determined as the team wraps up its first week of spring training practices.
But Marlins manager Don Mattingly has already knows who will be the first pitcher to throw off the mound when they begin their Grapefruit League slate against on Saturday.
Mattingly announced Tuesday that Jordan Yamamoto will be their first spring training starter when they face the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie.
The team told Yamamoto before they began their second full-squad practice that morning.
“It’s definitely a good feeling,” Yamamoto said. “It’s a great opportunity to start the season right.”
Yamamoto, one of four players the Marlins acquired as part of the Christian Yelich trade in January 2018, made his Major League debut on June 12 and had a historic run to begin his time in the big leagues.
He started with back-to-back games with seven shutout innings, setting the club record for most innings pitched by a starter before giving up a run.
He went 4-0 through his first six starts before struggling down the stretch, finishing the year with a 4-5 record and a 4.46 ERA in 15 starts over 78 2/3 innings.
Mattingly said when it comes to the first round of spring training games, outings when pitchers are generally on pitch counts, he’s not necessarily looking for results even though there are spots open in the rotation.
“Spring is about letting guys compete, but the first outing, you just don’t quite know,” Mattingly said. “He’ll throw live [batting practice] and get ready for that, but it’ll be his first time with hitters from another team, people in the stands, just getting back out there the first time again. It just starts the process of games for him. You have to deal with runners. You have to deal with game-type situations. For all these guys, especially the first one getting on the mound, just getting back acclimated with having to deal with more things than you are specifically with one drill. Now it all comes as a package and trying to deal with that out there.”
As the roster stands, Sandy Alcantara and Caleb Smith seem to be locks to be part of the starting rotation when the regular season begins March 26.
Pablo Lopez figures to be the No. 3 at this point. Yamamoto, Jose Urena, Elieser Hernandez, Nick Neidert and Robert Dugger are the main pitchers competing for the final two rotation spots, with prospects Sixto Sanchez, Edward Cabrera, Trevor Rogers and Braxton Garrett serving as the next wave of starting pitchers.
“You guys know that we have all these young guys, including me, who are trying to fight for those spots,” Yamamoto said. “It’s funny because everybody says ‘Yeah, you’re here to make the team but don’t blow it on Day 1’ and in all of our minds, it’s a competition. We’re here to compete. We’re here to earn a spot. I’m going to do whatever it takes to earn that spot.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 2:06 PM.
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