Marlins week in review: Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s adjustment to center, Eury Perez’s second outing
Jazz Chisholm Jr. has a simple request for every hitter the Miami Marlins face this spring training when he is in the lineup: Hit the ball his way.
Groundballs up the middle. Routine fly balls. Line drives, both lasers to the warning track and low-angle balls that die in the shallow outfield. Anywhere from left-center to right-center and everywhere in between.
Chisholm wants the reps now. As many of them as he can get before Opening Day comes on March 30 and his baseball journey as a center fielder begins in earnest.
“In [batting practice], you try so hard to mimic it, but it’s not the same,” Chisholm said Tuesday. “In BP, it’s just like so much fun, you’re not really taking it seriously. So when the game comes around, you take [it] a little bit more serious.”
Chisholm knows spring training is the time for him to find his bearings. He has never played the position before. He was always a middle infielder, growing up a shortstop and moving to second base once he got to the big leagues.
So Chisholm is going to take any and every chance that is given to him to test himself in a live setting this spring — even if the results don’t work in his favor.
“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.
And the growing pains, which were expected, have been there.
Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers was the fifth spring training game Chisholm has played, and the opportunities for him to make plays have varied with each outing.
In his first game on Feb. 26, for example, only one ball came Chisholm’s way while he was in the field — a broken-bat single from the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado that fell in front of him.
On Tuesday, Chisholm airmailed a throw from center field on a groundball up the middle from Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas. It sailed past first baseman Garrett Cooper and Austin Allen on its way to the backstop to allow a runner to score from second.
On Wednesday against the New York Mets, Chisholm caught both balls that came his way in the first inning — including a lineout from Luis Guillorme fly ball from Pete Alonso that went to the warning track — and properly fielded two singles that fell in front of him.
On Friday, Chisholm had mixed results, barely missing a diving grab on a low line drive from the Cardinals’ Alec Burleson that turned into a double but making the other four plays that went his way.
No balls went in his direction Sunday against the Red Sox.
“This is not a surprise,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “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. ... There’s stuff that you just can’t replicate until you actually play the game, and I’m happy with how he’s going about it,”
And the position change hasn’t seemed to impact his offense in any way so far. Chisholm is hitting .267 (4 for 15) with one double, one home run and two walks through his first five spring games.
Eury Perez’s second spring outing
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that Eury Perez, the Marlins’ top prospect and a consensus top-15 prospect in all of baseball, is 19 years old. The right-handed pitcher has flashed his talent over his first two minor-league seasons and has shown his potential in spots early in spring training.
But Perez still has room for growth, as evidenced by his first two Grapefruit League appearances.
On Saturday, Perez pitched three innings in Miami’s 15-4 loss to the New York Mets at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. He cruised through the first two frames before getting into trouble in the third, leaving a pair of four-seam fastballs elevated to Mets prospects Matt Winaker and Luke Ritter for home runs that accounted for all three earned runs he allowed.
“I missed my spots and was behind in the count as well,” Perez said.
But on the whole, Perez once again showed promise. Of his 45 pitches, 32 landed for strikes. This included eight swings and misses on 29 swings from Mets hitters — a big improvement over his first outing of spring, when he had just three whiffs on 25 swings over two innings of work.
His fastball topped at 99.7 mph and his changeup averaged 89 mph.
“Every outing is going to be a learning lesson for him, good or bad,” Schumaker said. “What are the things he can do again the right way, and what are the things that he needs to work on? Honestly, when he got a few hits off him, a couple of extra-base hits, I thought his emotions were really good on the mound still. I didn’t see him, like, chin-to-the-chest type of thing. He still looked like he was ready to go and was competing every single pitch.”
Quote from the Skip
Schumaker on spring training records and when wins and losses start to matter, with the Marlins now 1-7-1 through nine Grapefruit League games: “When’s Opening Day? That’s when winning matters to me. We’re watching guys. A lot of it is ‘Are they listening to the game plan? What’s the catcher and pitcher relationship?’ We’re looking at some young guys. ... Do you want to win? Yeah. You play the game and you’d like to win at the end, but in spring training, I’m looking more for ‘Are they getting better?’”
World Baseball Classic is here
Spring training is in full swing, with a little more than three weeks until Opening Day.
But for the next two weeks, many of MLB’s best will be away from their respective teams’ camps as they participate in the World Baseball Classic.
The full tournament begins on Wednesday, with the first games played stateside happening on Saturday.
Miami’s loanDepot park will be at the center of the action as one of four sites for pool play (Phoenix, Tokyo and Taichung, Taiwan, are the other hosts), one of two sites for the quarterfinals (Tokyo is the other) and the site for both semifinals and the championship.
Seven players who are with the Marlins for spring training will take part in the tournament, with all of their action taking place at loanDepot park.
Pitchers Sandy Alcantara and Johnny Cueto along with infielder Jean Segura will represent the Dominican Republic. Pitchers Jesus Luzardo and Enmannuel De Jesus along with infielder Luis Arraez will play for Venezuela. Pitcher prospect Anthony Maldonado is playing for Puerto Rico.
Nicaragua and Israel round out Pool D, which opens the tournament in Miami.
Stories from the week
▪ Where things stand with Sixto Sanchez as he tries to make his way back to the mound after being sidelined for two years.
▪ The advice Johnny Cueto has given to Edward Cabrera.
▪ Jordan Groshans is learning first base.
▪ Reliever Huascar Brazoban reported to camp after a visa issue and felt good after his first bullpen session.
▪ Trevor Rogers and Avisail Garcia, both of whom entered the offseason disappointed with their 2022 performance, are motivated for rebound seasons.
Rogers impressed again on Sunday, throwing three shutout innings with two strikeouts and facing the minimum nine hitters. He worked around a leadoff single in the first inning with a double play.
▪ A non-roster invitee who has impressed Schumaker? Garrett Hampson.
Next week’s schedule
Monday: @ Tampa Bay Rays (St. Petersburg), 1:05 p.m., TV via Bally Sports Sun, Radio via 940 AM
Tuesday: vs. Washington Nationals (Jupiter), 1:10 p.m., Radio via 940 AM
Wednesday: vs. Team Israel (Jupiter), 6:40 p.m., TV via MLB.com, Radio via MLB.com
Thursday: OFF
Friday: @ Washington Nationals (West Palm Beach), 6:05 p.m., Radio via MLB.com
Saturday: vs. Tampa Bay Rays (Jupiter), 3:10 p.m., Radio via MLB.com
Sunday: @ Houston Astros (West Palm Beach), 1:05 p.m., Radio via MLB.com
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