‘I’m ready for this’: Joe Dunand, A-Rod’s nephew, homers in MLB debut as Marlins snap losing skid

Joe Dunand was still trying to process the moment.

It’s nearly two-and-a-half hours since the moment happened, since the 26-year-old hit a solo home run in his first career MLB at-bat to spark the Miami Marlins to an 8-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday — a win that snapped the team’s six-game losing streak.

“I blacked out, I think,” Dunand said postgame. “I don’t really remember much. I just remember my game plan. I was looking for the ball up and hit it hard up the middle. I think I picked back up running around second. It was a great feeling.”

It was a joyous and successful moment individually for Dunand, a Miami native, former standout at Gulliver Prep and nephew of MLB great Alex Rodriguez. He finished the game with two hits and played error-free defense at third base.

It was a relieving moment for the Marlins, considering the team’s losing skid entering the day and the circumstances surrounding Dunand’s promotion.

The Marlins selected Dunand’s contract after placing utility infielder Jon Berti on the injured list without an official injury designation, which the team generally only does when the roster move involves COVID-19. It’s the second move of that nature in as many days. Brian Anderson went on the IL prior to Friday’s game without a formal reason.

“You want to be through with it, but we don’t seem to be able to get past it,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said without directly mentioning COVID-19. “It keeps rearing it’s ugly little head.”

Dunand made sure to make the most of the opportunity.

“This is just a dream come true,” Dunand said. “This is everything you dream about. Just coming here and being able to play at the highest level and perform at a high level and help the team win — which is the most important thing — it’s a great feeling.”

‘Just get after it’

The lead-up to Dunand’s big moment began hours before the game. The infielder got word from Mattingly while sitting at his locker in the visiting clubhouse pregame that the move was going to be official. He was going to be added to the roster. He was going to be a Major League Baseball player.

The emotions and rush of adrenaline quickly came.

“I’m ready for this,” Dunand said. “I’ve been preparing for this all my life.”

Not long after Dunand got the news, he made a phone call to a relative who had been through the exact situation he is going through now and carved out a two-decade career.

The message Dunand received from his uncle, 14-time MLB All-Star Alex Rodriguez?

“Just get after it,” Dunand relayed from the field at Petco Park, shortly before he took batting practice and fielded ground balls at third base. “It’s the same game.”

He didn’t take long to make an impact.

Dunand took the first two pitches he saw from Sean Manaea for a 1-1 count. And then, on the third pitch, he sent a changeup a projected 365 feet just beyond the left-field wall in the third inning.

After he rounded the bases, Dunand got hugs and high-fives from fellow infielders Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Miguel Rojas as well as manager Don Mattingly before celebrating more with teammates in the dugout.

“I think he’s taking after his uncle,” first baseman Garrett Cooper said. “That’s a big first AB. ... That’s a memory he’ll always have.”

Dunand was able to get the home run ball back. The fan who caught the ball asked to meet Chisholm in exchange.

Chisholm was quick to oblige.

“Hell yeah,” Chisholm said of helping out Dunand. “That’s my boy.”

Uncle A-Rod, who didn’t record his first MLB hit until the second game of his career and didn’t hit his first home run until Game 34 of his career, had a celebration of his own watching the moment unfold on television.

“You’ve gotta be horse s--tting me,” Rodriguez said on a video posted to his Twitter account. “Oh my goodness. I can’t believe what I just saw.”

He is the third Marlins player to homer in the first at-bat of his MLB debut, joining Jeremy Hermida (Aug. 31, 2005) and Mitch Lyden (June 16, 1993).

Dunand added a double in the fifth inning and scored on Cooper’s two-run double three batters later. The Marlins (13-14) then blew the game open with a five-run ninth inning, highlighted by Jorge Soler’s first career grand slam, while Pablo Lopez threw eight shutout innings.

“Everybody’s happy for him,” Mattingly said. “That’s the biggest thing. And then he obviously plays well. Didn’t look like he was one bit nervous, but I think when you have a young guy come up, it just reminds you of when you started and the first time you played. Everybody liked it.”

Joe Dunand’s road to the majors

Dunand, 26, has primarily played third base and shortstop over his minor-league career since the Marlins selected him out of North Carolina State in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He’s a career .236 hitter with 29 home runs, 155 RBI and 144 runs scored in 348 career games.

Through 14 games this season with the Triple A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Dunand has a .255 batting average with five doubles, one home run, seven RBI and 11 runs scored.

He made an impression on the Marlins’ coaching staff during spring training ahead of the 2021 season. He played in 19 Grapefruit League games that spring, with his time as part of big-league camp highlighted by hitting a walk-off home run against the New York Mets.

But he missed nearly two months at the start of the 2021 season with an hand injury and hit just .197 in the 69 games he did play before rebounding at the start of this season with the Jumbo Shrimp.

“We didn’t get to see him a lot this spring, but the spring before he was really good,” Mattingly said. “He has a nice little clock. Slow tempo, slow clock guy. Hopefully that serves him well during his first game in the big leagues.”

Dunand was part of the Marlins’ taxi squad for this West Coast road trip, joined by catcher Santiago Chavez and relief pitcher Huascar Brazoban. Dunand said being with the club for the past two days before getting the news from Mattingly was helpful and gave him the chance to get his bearings with the team compared to possibly being thrown into the fire.

“Just being here and having a rhythm and going through the routines that these guys go through definitely helps out,” Dunand said.

This story was originally published May 7, 2022 at 8:04 PM.

Jordan McPherson

Miami Herald

305-376-2129

Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.