Energetic Volquez will battle himself and the Cubs
MIAMI Edinson Volquez’s first — andmaybe toughest— opponent Sunday afternoon won’t be Anthony Rizzo, the Chicago Cubs’ slugger-turned-leadoff man, or even reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant.
It’ll be Volquez himself, as it is every time Volquez pitches.
The Miami Marlins right-hander regularly battles his own energy and excitement early in games, and that’s especially true now that his sore right ankle — to which he half-jokingly attributed his early June dominance — is mostly healed.
In the first two innings of games this year, when he is most at full strength, Volquez has a 4.50 ERA and 1.75 WHIP while striking out about one batter for every walk. After the second inning, he has a 4.01 ERA and 1.20 WHIP while striking out 3.43 batters for every walk.
“Some guys cannot pitch if they don’t feel 100 percent,” Volquez said. “I’m the opposite. I don’t want to feel 100 percent to pitch. Iwant to feel a little tired, a little slow.”
What difference did the sore ankle really make? To hear Volquez tell it, it forced him to stay within himself physically, prohibiting him from “jumping” off the rubber with each pitch. That physical limitation helped him to a stretch of one earned run in 22 innings across three starts.
Now, with the ankle better, he’s back to the jumping. Put another way, Volquez is unintentionally trying too hard.
In two starts since he declared his ankle was mostly better, Volquez has allowed10 earned runs in 8 2⁄ innings. 3
“It just happens in the first two innings, because you have a lot of energy,” Volquez said. “You pump up a little bit, youwant to rush yourself to the plate.”
Pitching as if he has a swollen ankle when he doesn’t really have a swollen ankle — trying to keep the side effect without the cause — is easier said than done. So Volquez has developed a routine through the years in which he tries to tire himself, just a bit, before taking the mound.
Volquez said he throws as many as 42 pitches in his pregame bullpen session, which manager Don Mattingly indicated would be on the high end of normal. Volquez also hops on a stationary bike for about10 minutes towork his legs.
He writes a message to himself — “stay back”— onhis hat, and tells catcher J.T. Realmuto to remind him to take it easy if he struggles early.
As he progresses into the middle innings, and his arm drops down from an over-the-top angle to more of a threequarter slot, Volquez feels and pitches better. It can take up to 65-70 pitches.
By then, of course, his day might be over.
“Especially here,” Volquez said. “They [the Marlins] have a philosophy to take the starter out early. Itwas really hard in the beginning of the season. I told Nieves all the time, why’d you take me out? I started feeling good.”
Odds& ends
Mattingly said shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria (left oblique strain) could return for the start of the Marlins’ series against the Mets Tuesday. That will change, of course, if the Marlins trade Hechavarria, as they are looking to do. In seven rehab games with Double-A Jacksonville and High-A Jupiter entering Saturday, Hechavarria was 5 for 19 (.263) with two walks, no strikeouts and no extra-base hits.… Mattingly also said not to expect infielder Miguel Rojas (right thumb surgery) to go on a rehab assignment until after the All-Star break. … Righty Kyle Barraclough seems to have regained his status as a late-inning setup man, recording two holds in a week and contributing a scoreless seventh Friday against the Cubs. In his past 11 games, Barraclough has allowed one run in 12 innings, striking out 15 and walking just three.