Marlins player explains changes inside the team. And personnel notes
Some Miami Marlins notes on a Friday:
▪ The Dolphins last year had success moving from an authority figure to an easygoing coach who enjoyed joking around with his players and was comfortable - at times - being their friend more than their boss.
The Marlins seemingly are taking a similar approach.
Now let’s be clear: Former Marlins manager Don Mattingly wasn’t nearly as tough on his players as ex-Dolphins coach Brian Flores could be. Football coaches generally yell and admonish more than baseball managers.
But when Marlins first baseman Garrett Cooper talks about new manager Skip Schumaker, it’s reminiscent of what Dolphins players said in the months after Mike McDaniel replaced Flores.
“Skip always told me he’s not far removed from playing,” Cooper said. “He wants the player and manager to have the feel together that maybe Donnie and the older school style manager didn’t have in today’s game.
“Skip, hopefully with this new style, this new mantra of accessibility and availability at all times, [it helps]. I talked to him five or six times just in the offseason just to catch up. To have someone like that definitely changes the vibe here.
“He wants us to be as close with him as possible. And I haven’t really seen that. I’m going into my seventh season. I haven’t seen a manager that’s that willing to be there for you 100% of the time and in a way that it’s almost like he’s a teammate with you, instead of ‘he’s the manager, you’re the player.’ That will create a vibe that hopefully everyone is excited to play for.”
Cooper makes clear that Donnie “is a great manager” and he’s not blaming him for the pervasive losing here.
But Cooper also notes that “we didn’t win here. We haven’t won in a lot of time here… And something needed to change.”
Cooper said Schumaker has simple rules: “The three things he wants is play hard, whatever you do, as long as you’re playing hard showing up on time and giving your best effort, you can do whatever you want. You want to sleep before the game? You can do whatever you want, as long as you’re willing to play 162.”
Whether any of that makes a difference remains to be seen. The Marlins haven’t looked good - they’re 4-12 this spring - but that can’t be blamed on Schumaker.
▪ The other change - one needed far more, in our view, than anything related to managers - was the decision to add better contact hitters, with Luis Arraez and Jean Segura.
Cooper spoke candidly about that, too.
“This park is big and a lot of hitters don’t realize that until they come here and play 81 games,” Cooper said. “Adding Arraez and Segura is a different feel to this lineup, a dynamic that maybe we have missed. We tried to sign all these power hitters. But solo homers are not going to do anything for you. You need guys on base.
“The best hitting teams are teams that have six or seven guys that are over .330 in on base [average]. That’s how winning teams win.”
The Marlins last year had one with an on-base over .330 – Cooper, at .337.
“Yeah, we would love to have the superstar that hits 45 to 50 homers a year, but the way we’re structured now, we have to be better with on base percentage,” Cooper said.
▪ Decisions are still pending on whether the Marlins will keep both first baseman Yuli Gurriel and shortstop Jose Iglesias or one. A strong case could be made to keep both. We’ll have more on the looming roster decisions in the days ahead.... Trevor Rogers, who’s in the rotation, had his first poor start of the spring on Friday, as colleague Jordan McPherson explained here.
▪ Left-hander Braxton Garrett has one minor league option left and he seems likely to be sent down to Triple A after struggling this spring. He has allowed nine earned runs in 9 1/3 innings and batters are hitting .342 off him. Edward Cabrera appears likely to be the fifth starter.
▪ Outfielders Avisail Garcia (.207) and Jorge Soler (.222) are both struggling this spring - not a good sign for an offense that badly needs both to produce. Both went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in Friday’s 16-2 loss to the Cardinals.
Garcia has 10 strikeouts in 29 at-bats, Soler six in 27 at-bats.
▪ The bullpen hasn’t been great this spring, but A.J. Puk - acquired from Oakland for J.J. Bleday - has been very good in a small sample size. He struck all out three batters in his one inning on Friday and has seven strikeouts, with one hit allowed, in three spring innings. He was sidelined early in camp with tightness in his left adductor, the muscles on the inner thigh.
Dylan Floro, conversely, has struggled: He has allowed seven earned runs in six innings and batters are hitting .308 off him.
This story was originally published March 17, 2023 at 5:26 PM.
