Pitching rotation gains some clarity
Bunch of players contend for 3 remaining spots
JUPITER — Marlins manager Don Mattingly and his coaching staff have written out the pitching rotation, but only with a pencil.
On Thursday, Mattingly said the team had “a good idea” how the rotation would pan out, but did not divulge who the five pitchers would be. The Marlins already announced Jose Urena as the Opening Day starter, and No. 2 Dan Straily is currently sidelined with right forearm inflammation.
After that, it’s a host of names battling for position: Jacob Turner, Odrisamer Despaigne, Caleb Smith, Justin Nicolino and Elieser Hernandez.
Turner was supposed to start Thursday’s game against the Astros, but was scratched due to flu-like symptoms. Hernandez, a Rule 5 draft pick, is recovering from surgery on his wisdom teeth.
“We got a good idea,” Mattingly said. “I will say that. Obviously, anything can change with an injury. A few moving parts because different things that are going on with a little bit of the flu, a little bit of this or that. There are some moving parts, but we’re pretty much where we want to be.”
Turner is the most experienced of the group of rotation hopefuls. Signed in the winter to a minor-league contract with a spring training invite, Turner
has pitched in 97 games across six seasons for five different teams, including a previous stint with the Marlins.
Thursday would have been Turner’s third spring training start and sixth appearance. The 26-year-old has a 4.70 ERA in 15 1⁄3 innings.
“We got a guy that’s still young,” Mattingly said. “He’s a guy that’s been around a little bit, and started off obviously with a tremendously high ceiling and hadn’t really got to that yet. But we still think his arm is good. We still think there’s room for him to grow with different parts of his game. This is a guy you’re looking for a little bit of that diamond in the rough. We still feel like the potential is still there to be a guy that’s quality for us.”
Right-hander Nick Neidert started in Turner’s place. Neidert was one of three players (along with right-hander Robert Dugger and infielder Chris Torres) the Marlins acquired from Seattle for Dee Gordon.
After Turner plays catch on Thursday — “We’ll see how that drains him, or how he handles that,” Mattingly said — the team would decide how to move forward with him.
Mattingly did not say if Turner locked up a spot in the Marlins rotation, but hinted that the team didn’t need to see him pitch again to decide his fate.
“The one thing we probably don’t want to do is get where we push him a little early,” Mattingly said. “At this point, he’s ready. At this point, he either is or isn’t, right? It’s not about the last time to throws a baseball.”
Time is running out for the Marlins to finalize the rotation. The club has just three more days of spring training and is a week away from opening the season at Marlins Park against the Cubs.
Smith is slated to start tonight against Washington in likely his last chance to impress the coaching staff.
“We think we have a pretty good idea how we want to run our first couple weeks,” Mattingly said. “You’ll know more here in a couple of days here.”