Trio begins performance on discordant note
The feel-good story of three homegrown Marlins leading a resurgence of the franchise is not off to a great start.
There was a positive turn this week when righthander Mat Latos, who pitched for Coconut Creek High and Broward College, delivered 61⁄ solid innings in Washington to earn his first win as a Marlin in his sixth start.
The same day the Marlins finalized cutting ties with Royal Palm Beach High product Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who was designated for assignment the week before. The veteran catcher, who helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2013 before coming home to accept a three-year, $21 million contract, underperformed in all phases of the game until the Marlins decided they were better off swallowing the remaining $14.2 million they owed him.
Saltalamacchia signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks on Thursday
Now Fort Lauderdale native Michael Morse, fresh off a championship last season with the Giants, is mired in a season-long slump that has seen his average plummet to .193 and had him on the bench for four of the past five games. Perhaps the next few days in San Francisco during the Marlins’ weekend series there will help Morse rekindle the feeling he had last October.
The Giants planned to present Morse with his championship ring Thursday in a pregame ceremony at AT&T Park, and he was back in the lineup. The veteran first baseman only played one season in San Francisco but made a lasting impact with two momentous swings of the bat.
He hit a tying pinch ho- mer in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, and the Giants went on to close out the series against the Cardinals on Travis Ishikawa’s walk-off homer. Then in the World Series, Morse had four RBI, including driving in the decisive run in Game 7.
The Marlins envisioned the former Nova High standout providing that type of power and clutch run-production hitting behind Giancarlo Stanton when they signed him to a two-year, $16 million contract. It appeared that would be the case when during spring training he hit .347 with five homers and 17 RBI.
But aside from a gamewinning RBI-single against the Mets on April 28, Morse’s bat has been mostly dormant in the regular season. That was his only RBI in his past 11 games, and he was 3 for 28 (.107) in his past seven through Wednesday.
“I’ve never met a baseball player who’s had a career where they haven’t gone through some rough patches. I mean, I’ve had times like this my whole career. To me, I’m not worried about it. I know what I can do, and hopefully I get a chance to do,” Morse said. “Last time I started out bad I had the best year of my career.”
That was in 2011 when he hit .224 with one homer in April and went on to bat .303 with a career-best 31 homers and 95 RBI.
For his career, the opening month has been his weakest at .243, while he has hit .300 or better in each of the subsequent three months.
“This guy is a big part of our team and we need him. Right now, he’s going through a tough patch,” Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. “We need to get Mo going. Hopefully, if we get him a day off here or there, then that’s going to help.”
Morse didn’t appear at all in the three-game series at Washington, as recent callup Justin Bour started at first and went 3 for 9 with a homer. Morse’s efforts were spent working on his swing with hitting coach Frank Menechino.
“This game is all about confidence,” Redmond said. “He just needs to go out and put a couple of good at-bats together and get going.”
Meanwhile, Latos has been showing positive signs after a rough start to the season. With him the issue has been health.
The right-hander was limited to 16 starts last season with Cincinnati due to elbow and knee injuries, and he was still dealing with knee issues this spring.
“Spring training was a little tough for me, having my knee drained. It was kind of a setback. I was kind of still in spring training mode,” Latos said. “Not to make excuses, but anybody who’s ever played this game knows how tough it is. You can’t just jump on there and expect results.”
Since the disastrous season debut when he gave up seven runs in the first inning, the results have been gradually getting better. The main challenge has been getting deeper into games. A hamstring tweak proved minor, and the outing in Washington was Latos’ best so far.
“That was probably the best I’ve felt all year,” he said, adding that earlier, “I scuffled a little bit, but I’m starting to feel a lot better. I’m sticking with the pro- gram of rehabbing my knee and getting better in general.”
It is an important season for Latos, who can become a free agent this fall, and for the Marlins who have $9.4 million invested in him.
As for Saltalamacchia, he is in great shape financially but looking to get his career back on track after turning 30 this week. The process reportedly will begin with the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate in Reno.