Gold Glove catcher praises 3 potential aces as Marlins reach .500: ‘As good as it gets’
After Jacob Stallings got traded to the Miami Marlins in the offseason, his initial thoughts turned to the rotation he was going to get to work with.
“I was excited I wasn’t going to have to face them anymore,” said the catcher, who won his first Gold Glove Award last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Marlins expected him to lock down their unsettled catcher position. He expected to help Miami contend for a spot in the 2022 MLB postseason. The plan always had more to do with Stallings’ glove than his bat.
In South Florida, the Marlins and Stallings found a tantalizing marriage. The talent in Miami’s rotation was undeniable, but none of the starting pitchers in contention for a spot on the Opening Day roster were older than 26. Stallings could be just the veteran steward the Marlins needed.
Through two and a half weeks, the results have — for the most part — been undeniable. Pablo Lopez leads MLB with a 0.52 ERA. Fellow starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara held the Washington Nationals to one run across six innings Tuesday in a 5-2 win at Nationals Park in Washington to lower his ERA to 1.78. Even starting pitcher Trevor Rogers, who was Miami’s lone All-Star last year as a rookie, bounced back from the worst start of his career April 16 by pitching five innings without an earned run against the Atlanta Braves on Friday.
Those three have all looked like potential aces at various points in the last two seasons and they’ve even exceeded the lofty expectations Stallings had for them.
“They’re really good, they’re young and I think that’s exciting for not only myself, but the organization knowing that they’re going to be around for hopefully a lot of years,” Stallings said. “They’re as good as it gets.”
.JPG "CardinalsMarlinsBaseball (1).JPG")
Pablo Lopez and ‘wicked changeup’
Lopez, in particular, has surprised Stallings. The two happened to never face off and Lopez is the only one of the three not to pitch in an MLB All-Star Game. The 26-year-old Venezuelan’s profile is simply smaller. He also didn’t finish spring training very well, leaving Stallings uncertain about what he’d look like once the regular season began.
“I didn’t really know what to expect out of him, but he’s obviously been fantastic,” Stallings said.
The standout trait, Stallings said, has been the changeup, which is getting opposing hitters to swing and miss 50 percent of the time.
No one in the Majors has thrown a pitch as frequently — 94 times — with a better whiff rate.
“His changeup is as good as it gets,” Stallings said. “Especially when it’s on, it’s just a wicked changeup, and it makes his fastball and his other pitches that much more effective. His changeup is pretty special.”
.JPG "MarlinsNationalsBaseball (2).JPG")
Sandy Alcantara: ‘The whole package’
Alcantara is really the pitcher Stallings is glad not to face anymore and it’s because of the variety of ways he can get hitters out: Opposing hitters have batted worse than .240 against Alcantara’s changeup, slider and four-seam fastball and he held the Nationals to six hits, three walks and just one earned run in six innings Tuesday, while striking out five.
In Florida, Stallings has come to really appreciate Alcantara’s ability to pitch deep into games, though. The 26-year-old Dominican’s 205 2/3 innings last year were fourth most in the National League and he tossed eight shutout innings Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“He’s the whole package,” Stallings said.
Both Alcantara and Lopez, he said, “seem older than they are” as they near half a decade in the Majors.
“They’re both confident guys,” Stallings said. “They probably went through some ups and downs, and they’ve learned from that and they know what they’re really good at. I think they both seem older than they are just because of that experience.”
Trevor Rogers learns from loss
Rogers, 24, is a few years behind those two, but his rookie season was as impressive a campaign as any of the three have put together, with a 2.55 ERA in 25 starts.
His sophomore year hasn’t been as charmed. On April 16, Rogers lasted just 1 2/3 innings and gave up seven runs to the Philadelphia Phillies.
His ability to bounce back six days later and shut down the Braves impressed Stallings, just as much as his raw talent has.
“Anytime anybody goes through anything like that, it’s going to affect him, but I thought he did a really good job,” Stallings said. “He was just aggressive and he was confident, and he knew he had his good stuff and that’s easier said than done for a young player like him. And I was just really proud of him the way he came out and competed.”
This and that
▪ Shortstop Miguel Rojas missed his fourth straight game with flu-like symptoms, but should be back in the lineup Wednesday when the Marlins (8-8) continue their series against the Nationals (6-13) at 7:05 p.m. Miami wanted to give him a day to go through a full workout before he returned to the lineup. “He was ready today, but coming back in there tomorrow,” manager Don Mattingly said.
▪ Relief pitcher Anthony Bender missed nearly a week with hip soreness, but returned Wednesday at “100 percent,” Mattingly said, and notched his second save of the season with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth inning.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 7:17 PM.
