As he juggles an ever-changing rotation, Marlins’ Stottlemyre learns value of patience
Mel Stottlemyre Jr. understands the reality of the situation, that the plan he and the Miami Marlins’ coaching staff had envisioned for the 2021 season hasn’t gone, well, according to plan.
The Marlins entered spring training with a young-yet-potential filled projected starting pitching rotation.
The ace in Sandy Alcantara. The top-end rookies in Trevor Rogers and Sixto Sanchez. The up-and-comers in Pablo Lopez and Elieser Hernandez coming off career years in MLB’s shortened 2020 season.
And then, reality hit.
Sanchez never threw a pitch and underwent season-ending shoulder surgery. Hernandez has thrown 7 1/3 innings and is on his second 60-day injured list stint. Alcantara, Lopez and Rogers were steady through the All-Star break but all three have missed at least once start over the last month.
Stottlemyre, the Marlins’ pitching coach, has had to stitch together a starting rotation all year, calling up and sending down pitchers to fill missed days.
Even with that, even with using a franchise-high 16 starters this season, the Marlins’ starting pitchers have statistically been among baseball’s best.
Heading into Friday, Miami ranked sixth in starting pitcher ERA (3.58), eighth in batting average against (.232), 11th in walks and hits allowed per inning (1.24) and tied for third in groundball double plays induced (53).
“I try not to get frustrated,” Stottlemyre said, “and I understand where guys are when they come up and where they’re at and being patient with their development and try not to give them too much.
“And look. These guys have held their own.”
Among the pitchers who have stepped up:
▪ Zach Thompson, who Stottlemyre called “a bright spot.” Thompson has a 2.53 ERA with 43 strikeouts and a .196 batting average against over 42 2/3 innings. Five of his nine starts have come against teams that rank among the top half of baseball in on-base-plus-slugging.
“You look at every outing that he’s been in — and he’s faced some dangerous lineups and some big clubs — and he’s handled himself quite well,” Stottlemyre said. “I love game planning with his stuff. We’ve got lots of options.”
▪ Braxton Garrett, who has a 2.92 ERA in his five starts.
▪ Nick Neidert, who has shown flashes over his last four starts (2.41 ERA over 18 2/3 innings).
▪ Cody Poteet, the Marlins’ fourth-round pick in 2015 who made seven starts but has also dealt with a pair of knee injuries.
“They’ve kept us in ballgames,” Stottlemyre said.
Stottlemyre also said this opportunity, a slew of prospects getting regular starts at the MLB level when they might not have otherwise, has “painted a much vivid picture for the organization” regarding the pieces they have.
“Some of these guys have got an opportunity and shown what they’re capable of doing,” Stottlemyre said. “I think we can plan better as an organization as well and create some depth there.”
But...
“I do look forward to get my pieces back,” Stotlemyre said.
Stottlemyre also touched on a few other topics Friday regarding the Marlins’ pitching staff. Among them:
▪ With Rogers set to miss a couple starts while on the family medical emergency list (similar to the bereavement list), Stottlemyre does not anticipate having to shut Rogers down this season. Stottlemyre’s plan was for Rogers to be capped at about 175 innings. He is currently at 110 innings with just under two months left in the season.
“I look forward to having him in September and making all five of his starts at least,” Stottlemyre said.
▪ With Adam Cimber, John Curtiss and Yimi Garcia traded, look for rookie and Rule 5 draft pick Zach Pop to get eased into pitching more high-leverage situation as the season progresses. The Marlins eased him into his first year at the MLB level, which was expected considering he’s two years removed from Tommy John surgery and that this is his first year of pitching in a live setting since 2019 when he was in Double A.
Stottlmyre called Pop “one of the best gifts organizational wise from a Rule 5 standpoint.”
“He’s come in with some great stuff,” Stottlemyre said. “He has shown signs where he has absolutely dominated. He has a power sinker and a really good slider. Two plus pitches, but with that being said, he’s a young pitcher. ... He’s slowly working himself up into some leverage situations.”
▪ And as for Anthony Bender, the surprise story after the Marlins signed him out of independent ball this winter?
”He’s slowly working himself back to being more reliable to where he can throw strikes,” Stottlemyre said. “And we know when he gets in the zone, his stuff is plus plus. His better days are ahead of him and I’m gonna keep challenging and giving him more pressure cooker situation and seeing how he responds to it.”
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