Motivated Rogers and Garcia showing positive steps, Jazz in center and more Marlins notes
First-year Marlins manager Skip Schumaker several times since being hired has mentioned there are several players looking for bounce-back seasons after disappointing outings in 2022.
Left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers and outfielder Avisail Garcia are at the forefront in that category. Rogers regressed mightily after finishing as the runner-up for the 2021 National League Rookie of the Year. Garcia, meanwhile, failed to produce in his first year with the Marlins after signing a four-year, $52 million contract that offseason.
It’s early in spring, but their individual efforts in the Marlins’ 7-2 spring training loss to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday provided a microcosm of what the Marlins hope they can get from the duo.
Rogers threw two scoreless innings, working around a pair of hits while striking out four and not issuing a walk. Garcia had a pair of hits, a double to left and a home run to right.
“Both Avi and Rogers have had a really, really good offseason to kind of think about what happened the year before and how they can get better,” Schumaker said. “Instead of sitting, moping and trying to feel sorry for themselves, they got to work right away. You can tell. You can see the difference when they came in. The work has been outstanding.”
Rogers did his share of introspection this offseason, looking for a reset both mentally and with his mechanics. He said he looks and feels like his 2021 self.
His first spring training outing was reminiscent of that. All four of his strikeouts — Triston Casas and Bobby Dalbec swinging in the first, Rob Refsnyder and Jorge Alfaro swinging in the second — came on his changeup, a pitch Rogers relies on to set up his four-seam fastball.
“That’s my bread and butter,” Rogers said. “Fastball at the top with a changeup that’s been my money pitch. If I can get that back on track and dialed in, I’d be in a good spot.”
As for Garcia, he knows he has to be better than what he showed last season. His .224 batting average, .266 on-base percentage, .317 slugging and .583 OPS were the worst of his career for any individual season.
The 31-year-old outfielder this offseason watched video to find corrections in his swing and came into spring training in much better shape. He’s listed at 250 pounds.
And his swing looks much more compact and much more consistent early in camp.
In the second inning Tuesday, he laced a middle-in changeup from Corey Kluber to left field for a double, the ball coming off his bat with a 109.3 mph exit velocity — the hardest hit ball in the game. Four innings later, he sent a Jake Faria cutter at the top of the zone 362 feet to right field for a home run.
“It feels great,” Garcia said. “That’s what I’m looking for. I’m looking to hit every pitch, use all parts of the field.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s adjustment to center field
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s move to center field remains a work in progress. That’s to be expected after just two spring training games.
And Chisholm is acknowledging mistakes and miscues as they come, attacking them head on as he tries to be as comfortable as possible at his new position before the season begins March 30 against the New York Mets.
“I’d rather make 30 errors in spring than having none in spring because no balls were hit to me and I’m not getting the repetition,” Chisholm said. “In [batting practice], you try so hard to mimic it, but it’s not the same.”
Chisholm had another learning experience Tuesday, when he airmailed a throw on a Casas groundball single up the middle in the third inning that missed the cutoff man and allowed Greg Allen to score from second base.
On Sunday, Chisholm’s first start in center field of spring training, he read a fly ball hit by St. Louis Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado — taking his first step back when the ball was drifting toward shallow left-center.
Ideally, Chisholm’s adjustment to center field would be instantaneous. That’s not reality, though. Chisholm understands that. So does Schumaker.
That’s why they’re getting him as many reps as possible over the next month and letting the situation unfold.
“You’re going to see things early on,” Schumaker said. “That’s not a surprise. As athletic and as good of a player as he is, you’re going to see these things in spring training. I’m glad you’re seeing every scenario possible before we start the season. Yeah, a 10-hopper through the middle with Allen at second base. He’s learning the speed of the game in the outfield, just like the other day [with Arenado] was a broken bat. There’s stuff that you just can’t replicate until you actually play the game.”
This and that
▪ Left-handed pitcher Dax Fulton, Miami’s seventh-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, made his Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday. He pitched one-plus innings, giving up four runs on five hits — including a two-run home run to Casas — and a walk.
▪ The Marlins agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Richard Rodriguez on minor-league deal with an invite to big-league spring training. Rodriguez, 32, has played in 228 career MLB games over five seasons. He has a career 3.28 ERA with 230 strikeouts against 60 walks and a .229 batting average against over 228 innings.
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