Two key Marlins relievers impress in first spring training outing. And more notes
Two of the Miami Marlins’ key high-leverage relievers made their first Grapefruit League appearances of spring training on Friday.
And it’s safe to say both impressed.
Left-handed pitchers A.J. Puk and Tanner Scott each threw a perfect inning in the Marlins’ 7-2 spring training win over the Washington Nationals at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
Puk threw 15 pitches to retire the side in the fifth, getting Jeter Downs to hit a flyball to shallow left-center field before striking out both Riley Adams and Alex Call swinging — Adams with a fastball, Call with a splitter that he has been working on throughout the offseason.
Scott needed just 13 pitches for a one-two-three sixth inning. He struck out Keibert Ruiz swinging on a fastball in the dirt in between a pair of groundball outs to first baseman Jordan Groshans.
“You saw a different look tonight,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Back-end bullpen guys in the big leagues just look different. Seeing those guys right there come off the field healthy was No. 1 for us. The [velocity] was there. The secondary pitches were there. Just love where they’re at.”
Scott and Puk dealt with minor injuries early in camp, which resulted in their delayed appearances in spring training games. Puk had tightness in his left adductor, the muscles on the inner thigh. Scott had left biceps soreness. After a couple days of not throwing, each threw a bullpen session on March 3 and a live batting practice session on Tuesday before being cleared to pitch on Friday.
“It felt good being out there, being back in competition,” Puk said. “I was kind of working my pitches in there that I’ve been working on and it was pretty clean.”
Scott added: “I was just trying to be in the moment and realize that I had a great catcher back there [in Nick Fortes] calling. ... We did a good mix of pitches.”
And now the Marlins’ bullpen is just about at full strength, which is a needed positive for Miami.
When all of their top relievers are healthy, the Marlins could field a bullpen with six pitchers with high-leverage experience: Three lefties in Puk, Scott and Steven Okert; three righties in Matt Barnes, Dylan Floro and JT Chargois.
“There are some options back there that have had back-end experience,” Schumaker said. “The goal is when you have a lead, you hold the lead. We’ll see who earns those positions as far as coming out of spring, but there’s a lot of guys that for right now have earned those spots and have done it before. Having those options, couldn’t ask for anything more right now.”
Jesus Luzardo’s outing
Left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo’s final outing with the Marlins before the World Baseball Classic started out rough. He gave up a single to Call and a double to Luis Garcia, both of which were hard hit.
After that? He settled into a groove.
Luzardo got out of the first-inning jam with a weak groundout and a pair of strikeouts.
He ultimately gave up just one run — a solo home run to Stone Garrett that barely cleared the wall in left field — while striking out six over four innings.
Luzardo will next pitch on Wednesday for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic against Israel.
This and that
▪ Bryan De La Cruz hit his first home run of spring — a no-dobuter to right-center field on the first pitch he saw from Alex Colome to start a four-run fifth inning.
▪ Eury Perez pitched 2 2/3 innings in his third Grapefruit League appearance, giving up just one run while striking out four.
▪ Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Nick Fortes each had multiple hits on Friday, with Fortes also drawing a walk. ... Jon Berti had two RBI. ... Catcher Austin Allen hit a two-run home run.
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