Luzardo, De La Cruz at-bat emphasizes ‘friendly competition’ Marlins want early in camp
Before Jesus Luzardo took the mound on a back field at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex for a live batting practice session on Thursday, there was some trash talk brewing between him and outfielder Bryan De La Cruz.
“I probably started it up,” Luzardo admitted afterward. “I just like to get under the hitter’s skin a little bit.”
The message, in simplest terms: “I’m going to get you.”
That at-bat between Luzardo and De La Cruz lasted two pitches. De La Cruz took the first pitch before ripping the pitch to the left side.
“I was looking for a fastball right there, but he threw a changeup and it broke my bat,” De La Cruz said, letting out a quick laugh shortly afterward. “It’s all about friendly competition and it’s a matter of getting relaxed, not putting any extra pressure on you.”
“It’s good,” Luzardo said. “I’m sure we’ll have a lot more battles out there afterward.”
The matchup was an encapsulation of what the Marlins have been trying to preach over the first two weeks of spring training under first-year manager Skip Schumaker: Get your work in, help each other improve and keep the vibe around the field and clubhouse free flowing and positive as they get ready for Opening Day in a little more than a month.
The matchup also featured to players who the Marlins hope have a strong spring training that transitions over to the regular season.
Start with Luzardo. The 25-year-old left-handed pitcher had a breakout 2022 season. In 18 starts, he posted a 3.32 ERA with 120 strikeouts against 35 walks, a .191 batting average against and a 1.04 walks and hits per inning pitched rate over 100 1/3 innings.
He improved the metrics on all of his pitches, particularly with his four-seam fastball and sinker. Batters hit just .207 against the four-seam fastball and .220 against the sinker in 2022. In 2021, those numbers were .336 for the four-seam fastball and .358 for the sinker.
His 31.7-percent swing-and-miss rate ranked in the 88th percentile among all qualified pitchers and his 30-percent strikeout rate was in the 87th percentile, according to Statcast.
“He’s a guy with the kind of stuff where if he just fills up the zone, he’s gonna have success no mater what,” said catcher Nick Fortes, who caught eight of Luzardo’s 18 games last season. “Where he gets into trouble is falling behind in counts, placing himself in bad position. For him, he’s just got to throw the ball over the plate and in the zone and let his stuff play because it’s damn good.”
Another issue Luzardo had: He missed two-and-a-half months with a left forearm strain six starts into his season.
When he returned, he finished the season with a 3.03 ERA and a .198 batting average against over his final 12 starts. Luzardo had quality starts — pitching at least six innings while allowing no more than three earned runs — in nine of those 12 outings, including each of his final four starts.
“The next step for me is just continuously stay as consistent as I did at the end of last year. Just time after time every five days, take the ball and make sure the team knows what they’re getting every time I step out there.”
De La Cruz wants that from the hitter’s perspective, too. The Marlins optioned him to Triple A Jacksonville on Aug. 12 after he fell into a monthlong slump and saw his batting average for the year dip to a season-low .205.
The Marlins brought him back to the active roster on Sept. 1 and he dominated to finish the season.
De La Cruz’s final 25 games: A .388 batting average, .419 on-base percentage, .718 slugging mark, six home runs, 22 RBI and 16 runs scored over 94 plate appearances.
Schumaker and general manager Kim Ng both singled out De La Cruz as a player they want to see how he progresses if given an extended period of playing time after his strong finish to the 2022 season. De La Cruz is competing for playing time in left field with Jesus Sanchez, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. (center field), Avisail Garcia (right field) and Jorge Soler (designated hitter and left field) rounding out the outfielder group if everyone stays healthy.
“I’m looking forward to getting a lot of at-bats and I hope they give me that opportunity,” De La Cruz said before camp started. “For sure, I’m not going to take that opportunity for granted. I want to continue working hard getting good at-bats and help the team.”
Sixto Sanchez update
Schumaker on Thursday said he hopes that right-handed pitcher Sixto Sanchez will be throwing off the mound next week.
Sanchez has dealt with an assortment of shoulder injuries the past two years and hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since Oct. 8, 2020, when he started Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves.
“His progression, there are no hiccups or anything,” Schumaker said. “For us, we’re just doing this slowly.”
Sanchez has been on the back fields each day and lost about 45 pounds this offseason, something Sanchez said before camp hopes will help lessen the strain on his shoulder.
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 2:52 PM.
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