Villar starts in center field, Brinson homers and more from Marlins’ night game vs Mets
After playing as the designated hitter for his first three spring training games, Jonathan Villar made his debut in center field for the Miami Marlins on Thursday in their 3-1 win over the New York Mets.
He caught the one ball that came in his direction, a lazy Michael Conforto flyball to left-center in the first, but was overall unchallenged during his four innings in the field.
Villar, a middle infielder by trade, is still getting used to playing in the outfield. He started a total of six games in center field during his first seven Major League Baseball seasons.
Villar’s thoughts on his first encounter with center field?
“It was my first day,” Villar said. “Maybe another day, I’ll play more innings and get more opportunities to play and I’ll feel more comfortable.”
“Comfortable” has been the word thrown around throughout spring training regarding Villar and the Marlins’ endeavor to have him play in the outfield. That’s why the Marlins coaching staff waiting until Game 6 of spring training, and Villar’s fourth overall, to put him in the field.
“Well, the No. 1 thing with Jonathan in center as we talk with him about it is that we weren’t going to put him out there until he was feeling comfortable,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “I want him to be able to do his drill work, his outfield work along with infield stuff. But I want him to be comfortable. I don’t want to embarrass anybody. I don’t want him embarrassed. There’s going to be some sort of process with this. He’s played outfield. He’s looked good in the video, but he has not been a regular outfielder. We wanted to try to get a little base underneath him so that he was comfortable before he did it.”
More notables from Thursday’s game, which moved the Marlins to a perfect 6-0 in spring training:
Jorge Alfaro scratched
Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro was a late scratch from Thursday’s lineup with what the team called left oblique tightness. Alfaro, who said he feels fine and sitting out was precautionary, is day-to-day.
Alfaro felt something tweak when he was swinging in the batting cage on Thursday, Mattingly said.
“We feel like it’s slight, but it’s not something that we were going to test at this point,” Mattingly said. “We’ll see hopefully over the next couple of days if he’s feeling better.”
Ryan Lavarnway, a non-roster invitee, took Alfaro’s place in the lineup. Lavarnway opened scoring in the fifth with an RBI double that scored Lewis Brinson, who was pinch-running for Matt Joyce.
It’s the second noted injury of camp. Relief pitcher Alex Cook is in a walking boot after a ball struck his foot while playing catch earlier this week.
Lewis Brinson homers
Brinson, competing to break camp on the Opening Day roster after struggling in his first two seasons in the Marlins organization, led off the seventh with a solo home run to left field.
It was Brinson’s second home run of spring, and the Marlins’ 10th overall in their first six games.
“It was a beautiful swing,” Mattingly said. “We’ll see. Keep playing. Keep going. Obviously, I don’t know what to say other than let him keep playing.”
Jesus Sanchez’s debut
Outfielder Jesus Sanchez, the Marlins’ No. 3 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline, made his spring training debut as a defensive replacement in right field. He went 0 for 2 at the plate with a pair of strikeouts but made three catches defensively, including a running grab in shallow right-center for the second out in the ninth.
Pitching highlights
▪ Robert Dugger threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk while striking out four.
▪ Jordan Yamamoto tossed three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Next up
The Marlins host the Houston Astros at 1:05 p.m. on Friday. Caleb Smith is scheduled to make his spring training debut as Miami’s starter.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 10:10 PM.
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