The Marlins’ thinking in handling of Chisholm. And Castellanos, Dombrowski address Marlins
No player elicits more reaction from Marlins fans that second baseman Jazz Chisholm.
And manager Don Mattingly has triggered some blowback from the fan base by batting Chisholm at or near the bottom of the lineup, generally not playing him against left-handers this season and pinch-hitting for him Tuesday night.
So what’s going on here? According to sources, Chisholm isn’t being punished for his flashy personality or lashing out on social media for not playing in the second game of the season or anything else behind the scenes.
Two factors are in play: Mattingly believes there are more polished hitters on the team who warrant more at-bats — and a higher spot in the batting order - than Chisholm.
Chisholm hasn’t started two of Miami’s 10 games—- entering Wednesday — and the Marlins will be cognizant of load management more than ever this season, notably due to their belief that they have capable bench players who could start for many teams, including their own.
And keep this in mind about the left-handed-hitting Chisholm: Though his career averages against right-handers and left-handers is identical (.241), his on-base average against left-handers is dreadful (.278), compared with .307 against right-handers.
In Chisholm’s first month as a big-leaguer in 2021, he was arguably the club’s best hitter. His OPS was .969, and his rookie season was off to a smashing start.
As time went on, Chisholm scuffled and posted an OPS below .700 the rest of his rookie season.
His post All-Star break numbers (.228, .278 on base, .662 OPS in 57 games) were well below his first-half numbers (.264, .323, .780 in 67 games).
Miami is happy about his start (.292, two homers, 10 RBI), but wants to see it sustained.
Chisholm — while not complaining — made clear last week when asked that he wasn’t enamored with hitting ninth.
“All my career, I hit first, second in the lineup, so it’s kind of new to me to hit at the bottom,” he said. “Yeah, it’s not my thing.”
Any advantage to hitting ninth? “Not at all,” Chisholm said.
So far this season, Chisholm has batted sixth once, seventh once, eighth on two occasions and ninth four times.
Mattingly seems to believe the issue is overblown:
“It doesn’t matter if he’s six or one or nine. You never know when the big at-bats are coming from. Maybe that’s the best spot for him. More than anything with Jazz is we want him to stay focused, keep getting better.”
On Tuesday, Mattingly pinch-hit Jorge Soler, a right-handed hitter, for Chisholm against Cardinals left-hander T.J. McFarland.
Why? McFarland has yielded a career .822 OPS against right-handers, compared with .667 against lefties.
Soler’s batting average against lefties in his career (.244) is barely better than Chisholm’s (.241), but Soler’s career on-base average against lefties (.340) is far better than Chisholm’s (.278).
Soler grounded out in that at-bat.
“That was just one of those like if I don’t pinch-hit, I’m probably doing the wrong thing,” Mattingly said. “It was just hard numbers, total extremes on that and really just trying to jump-start something. We’re down four at that point.
“They bring in a lefty who’s basically a lefty killer. And we’ve got three righties in a row if we can get on base there. So I thought that was the right spot to use Jorge to try to just basically change the game. And that’s really what we tried to do right there.”
Chisholm had had just five at-bats against left-handers this season and has one hit.
Chisholm raised eyebrows by retweeting criticism of Mattingly’s decision not to play him in the second game of the season, after he homered in the first game.
“I got it out of my system,” Chisholm said. “Small things. Something you learn from every time. That’ll be it for me.”
Miguel Rojas, the respected team leader, said he felt no need to discuss that with Chisholm.
THIS AND THAT
▪ Miami has made progress with third baseman Joey Wendle on a one-year deal for 2022. This would avoid going to arbitration.
▪ Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos, a South Florida native, told us that “up until the point Derek [Jeter] stepped aside from the Marlins organization, I really thought I was going to end up being a Marlin.”
Castellanos said “before the lockout, I heard through word of mouth there was [interest]. And Derek is an unbelievably serious, methodical guy. There’s not going to be too much misinformation about him. We both kind of knew it could have been a mutual interest.”
Castellanos declined to say how much contact his agent, Scott Boras, had with the Marlins when the lockout ended.
“The only thing I can say is while he was in ownership, I really thought I was going to end up here,” Castellanos said.
Jeter wanted owner Bruce Sherman to spend what it took for Castellanos, who got five years and $100 million from the Phillies.
But Sherman didn’t want to spend to that level. And since Jeter didn’t have the authority to spend that level of money without Sherman’s permission, the Castellanos signing was never going to happen unless he accepted less money and fewer years.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” he said. “If that would have worked out, it would have been exactly where I needed to be. But right now, I ended up being a Philadelphia Phillie. And honestly I love it here.”
▪ ESPN’s documentary on Jeter debuts on July 18. While it focuses mostly on his career with the Yankees, Jeter’s tenure in Miami will be addressed. (Mish was interviewed about that.)
Several Marlins have had interaction with Jeter since he left.
Trevor Rogers said he sent Jeter a text “thanking him for all he’s done and putting winning first. He said best of luck and success going forward.”
Rojas said: “I told [Jeter] I was proud of the way you handled business when you were on our side. And he said he appreciated everything I did for the organization and told me he was happy the way I grew as a player and leader. I really want to sit down with him and talk about not just what happened with the organization, but everything else.”
▪ Count Phillies (and former Marlins) general manager Dave Dombrowksi among those impressed by the Marlins’ moves over the offseason.
“I think they’re much improved,” Dombrowski said last weekend during a series in which the Marlins took three of four from Philadelphia. “But they were a tough club last year for us. I wasn’t here the year before. Any time you have quality starting pitching, which they have plenty, it’s a tough team.
“And they added to it when you have [Avisail] Garcia, [Joey] Wendle and others. You can see they’re a much improved team, Jacob Stallings behind the plate. When you come in here, you know you’re in for a battle. And any night it’s going to be tough to score runs. They’re not only good up here, but they also have good young pitching in their organization.”
Herald senior baseball correspondent Craig Mish hosts Fantasy Sports Today from noon to 1 p.m. and Newswire from 2 to 3 p.m. weekdays on Sportsgrid. Follow him on Twitter at @CraigMish. Follow Barry Jackson at @flasportsbuzz.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 1:02 PM.
