Chen’s spring: 6HR, 6 ER
JUPITER – One troubling trend continued, another came to a surprise end Sunday for Wei-Yin Chen.
The Miami Marlins left-hander has given up six earned runs this spring. All have come on home runs.
He gave up two more in a five-inning outing against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Like the four that preceded them, they came with the bases empty, which kept the damage to a minimum.
“Actually, [I] don’t like them, but I think the fact that it’s solos, he’s keeping people off base. That part’s effective,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, adding, “I like theway he’s throwing the ball.”
For the first time since he’s worn a major league uniform, Chen was able to speak positively about the way he swung the bat. That was due to a ground ball he hit past second base off Mike Leake that went for an infield hit.
Unfortunately, it came in an exhibition game, so Chen will go into the regular season still carrying the distinction of never getting a hit in 50 at-bats. He was 0 for 44 last season for the Marlins.
“Hate to waste those [hits],” Mattingly said.
Nonetheless, the Marlins retrieved the ball and fellow pitcher Tom Koehler wrote all the details about the hit on the ball for Chen.
“I think Koehler is happier than me.
When I came off the field I got in the dugout and T.K. told me he had the ball for me and he’d put it in my locker,” said Chen, who couldn’t recall the circumstances of his previous hit. “I don’t remember exactly but I know it was in Japan, and I used to hit lefty there.”
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese lefty, who bats righthanded, has gone from premier free-agent signing and Opening Day starter in 2016 to fourth in the rotation this year.
Mattingly said Sunday that was designed to have Chen open theweekend series in New York on April 7 against the New York Mets, favoring the matchup with a lefty-laden lineup.
The Marlins are hoping he can have a bounce-back season after posting career worsts in every important category in 2016 – his ERA of 4.96was more than a run higher than his careermark of 3.90.
Chen continues to fall victim to the long ball, giving up a long homer to left to Yadier Molina in the Cardinal catcher’s first at-bat since returning from the World Baseball Classic in the second inning Sunday. Dexter Fowler then hit one over the left-field wall leading off the third.
“I think I’m ready for the season, but I’m still having some problems allowing home runs,” Chen said. “The pitch to Molina I was trying to get it in off the plate to him. It wasn’t really amiss, but it wasn’t where I wanted to throw, and he hit it really well too. The second one was a changeup that was up so I missed my spot there.”
He later gave up a run on a sacrifice fly in the 3-0 loss, but itwas unearned.
Overall, Chen has had a solid spring, with a 3.38 ERA in 16 innings over five outings. Bu the has given up two homers in three consecutive starts.
“He challenges the strike zone, that’s one thing. He’s going to come after guys. He’s not walking people and he’s not really giving up that many hits,” Mattingly said. “When they’re solos, you kind of live with it. If they get to be three-run homers or people all over the [bases] it’s something different.”
No third catcher
Despite hitting .308 this spring, No. 3 catcher Tomas Telis is all but assured of starting the season at Triple-A New Orleans. Backup A.J. Ellis has sufficiently recovered from a hamstring strain that he is expected to play Tuesday in one of the Marlins’ splitsquad games.
“At this point we’re not going to need the third catcher. We think [Ellis] is going to be ready [to open the season],” Mattingly said.
The Marlins are confident in Telis as a hitter but prefer he continue to polish his catching skills in the minors.
“He can hit, and that’s not really one of the areas that we have any concern about,” Mattingly said. “The areas we work on
with him is [to] continue all the aspects of catching, from calling the game to running everything that happens on the field is always running through him. We want him to have a good feel for that. And there’s some technique stuff they’re working on.”
Hech held out
Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria was scratched due to minor back soreness he experienced during Saturday’s game. He was listed on the lineup posted for Monday against the Mets. …
Mattingly reiterated that third baseman Martin Prado is expected to begin the season on the disabled list due to the hamstring strain he sustained during the World Baseball Classic.
“He's still recovering,” Mattingly said. “He hasn't gotten on the field yet. He's getting treatment.”