What went wrong in Gio Gonzalez’s first Marlins spring outing and how he plans to improve
Gio Gonzalez started with the good news: His shoulder and arm both felt great. Nothing to worry about on that front.
That was probably the only highlight of his Miami Marlins spring training debut on Saturday night.
Gonzalez, the 35-year-old Hialeah native heading into his 14th MLB season, struggled to command any of his pitches and it showed mightily against a Washington Nationals lineup that featured just two projected starters.
He faced 11 batters over the span of two innings and recorded just one out. He threw 46 pitches, with less than half of them landing for strikes.
His final line: Seven earned runs allowed on eight hits and two walks.
“It was just one of those nights,” Gonzalez said after the 7-4 spring training loss at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. “Everything was working, as far as no issues with the arm. It took me a while to get to this point. Mechanically, I have to get things back together, work with [pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.] a little bit and put the pieces together.”
Gonzalez entered the game in the sixth inning and received a roar of applause from both the hometown Marlins, with whom he signed a minor-league deal earlier this month, and the Nationals team that he played seven seasons with.
He promptly allowed the first six Nationals batters he faced to reach base before Marlins manager Don Mattingly ushered him to the dugout.
Andrew Stevenson walked on five pitches, Josh Harrison had a hard-hit RBI to center field, Juan Soto had a hard-hit groundball single, Ryan Zimmerman slapped an RBI double down the third-base line and into left field, Starlin Castro hit a flare into right field for an RBI single and Gerardo Parra walked on five pitches.
Of Gonzalez’s 26 pitches in the sixth, just 12 were strikes, including the four balls put into play.
Jake Fishman relieved Gonzalez and finished the sixth inning.
Gonzalez took the mound again for the seventh and had the same results.
He faced five more batters and gave up four more hits. Jordy Mercer doubled to left field, Luis Garcia popped out, Yadiel Hernandez singled to right field, Cody Wilson hit a bunt single and Yasmany Tomas singled to center before Mattingly once again took the veteran out of the game, this time for good.
“I told him ‘It’s good to get that one out of the way,’” Mattingly said. “You’d rather have that happen here in spring training than anywhere else.”
Gonzalez would rather it not happen at all. He finally has the opportunity to play for his hometown team, and the Marlins are likely going to need him at some point. Miami’s starting pitching staff, while brimming with talent, is still very young. Having a veteran like Gonzalez at their disposal.
So what happened?
One thing to note: The velocity on his pitches wasn’t an issue.
His fastballs sat between 89 and 90 mph. His slider was between 83 and 86 mph. His changeup was in the low 80s. His curveball was between 75 and 77 mph.
But they rarely found the strike zone and he fell behind to just about every batter he faced. Not exactly a recipe for success.
Gonzalez’s biggest takeaway from the outing, outside of quipping “Don’t throw those pitches”?
“If I’m not landing my offspeed stuff, obviously my fastball becomes a little bigger to hitters,” Gonzalez said. “I felt like I threw maybe two good curveballs that good put in play, so I was just like ‘OK. Gotta make adjustments.’ But nothing to hang your head up. I’ve been through this situation before. It’s spring training. Turn the page and move on to the next one.”
Mattingly said Gonzalez’s next outing will be on Thursday as he continues on a five-day program. There will be a bullpen session mixed in there as well.
Those will most likely be his final two chances this spring to show what he can bring to the club before the season begins.
“I have to make time, somehow,” Gonzalez said. “You have to roll with the punches.”
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