Rookie Brinson shows power but wants to be more than slugger
JUPITER — The resounding crack of the bat and stunning rise of the ball was the latest revelation about the talent and potential of Marlins No. 1 prospect Lewis Brinson.
Brinson’s titanic first home run in a Miami uniform was certainly an eyeopener for a team that traded away a starting outfield that combined for 114 homers in 2017.
It came Tuesday off the Cardinals’ Jack Flaherty, who hadn’t allowed a hit for 42⁄3 innings before Brinson uncorked a drive to left field at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium that was Stantonesque in distance and for the oohs and ahhs it evoked. Fittingly, Marcell Ozuna, who hit 37 homers for the Marlins last season, was the Cardinals left fielder tracking Brinson’s blast as it soared past the main building at the Marlins’ spring complex and onto a grassy area near the parking lot.
Brinson, the Coral Springs native who was the centerpiece in the trade that sent Christian Yelich to the Milwaukee Brewers, has the stature to be the Marlins’ next major fence-buster.
He is 6 feet 3 and ripped. But unlike
Giancarlo Stanton, who belted 59 homers last season, Brinson said he is not thinking about ripping one over the fence whenever he steps to the plate.
“Power is part of my game, obviously,” Brinson said. “I try to work in the cage on being an allaround hitter. I don’t want to be a guy who just swings all-or-nothing, with a bunch of strikeouts. I don’t like striking out. I can’t help the team if I’m walking back to the bench, not putting the ball in play.
“I’m trying to be an allaround guy, not just an allor-nothing guy.”
Similarly, the Marlins aren’t counting on Brinson to fill the void of departed home-run hitters.
Though the 23-year-old outfielder has been impressive so far in Grapefruit League play, it isn’t a certainty he will be on the Opening Day roster.
“I’m really a big believer in good at-bats, good swings,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “If you’ve got power, you’re going to hit balls out of the ballpark. So we’re not trying any of the launch-angle stuff with him. We think he’s a good hitter. His home runs are there naturally.”
Brinson is methodically building a case to be a starter in the outfield, batting .409 and slugging .773 after appearing in 10 games.
He drove the first pitch he saw from the Astros’ Gerrit Cole for an opposite-field double Wednesday. He also worked a walk against the tough righthander by taking several pitches just off the plate.
Mattingly wasn’t sure how far the homer went Tuesday, but he had a different viewpoint in assessing Brinson’s performance that day and through spring training so far.
“You know what I liked about it more than anything? Obviously, you like to see him hit a ball out of the ballpark, but the adjustment. The same guy, one at-bat he looked really bad. Next time up, we see that,” Mattingly said.
“That’s what I’ve liked about him. He stays within himself, he seems to be calm up there and the fact that he’s making adjustments.
“There’s times he’s looked really bad. Then the next at-bat you see a better one.”
Brinson appeared overmatched when he struck out in his first at-bat against Flaherty. He had a plan the next time, waiting for a pitch up in the zone, and he made the most of it
“I’m not trying to search for my power,” Brinson said. “I know my power is there and it is going to play. Especially in the big leagues, pitchers are throwing harder nowadays. I’m just trying to take good swings on balls and find as many barrels as I can, and homers will come.”
Brinson has already shown to be as quick with a response as he is in turning on a fastball.
Asked if he could see himself hitting 59 homers in a season, he said, “Maybe one day. We’ll see.” He added, “If I put enough good swings, if I run into enough [fastballs].”
Won’t rush prospects
As with Brinson, the Marlins are in no hurry to declare big-league readiness for prized pitching prospect Sandy Alcantara. The primary acquisition in the Ozuna trade has a 1.13 ERA after three spring appearances.
Asked if he can foresee Alcantara opening the season in the starting rotation, Mattingly said, “We want this guy to make sure that he’s ready developmental wise. If we think his last bit of development is going to come at the big-league level, then you go that way.
“But this camp is a big part of that. If he goes out and keeps pitching well, he’s going to make it tough.”