Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Realmuto makes debut at first
WEST PALM BEACH – At least two of J.T. Realmuto’s catching skills translate to first base: picking balls out of the dirt, and small talk with opposing players. Or so he thinks. In his spring training debut at his new part-time position Saturday, Realmuto didn’t get a chance to work on either, seeing only the most routine of plays during his five innings in the field.
Realmuto’s tests came in the form of baseball’s most basic act: receiving the ball when it comes to you. On eight groundouts, Realmuto six times caught the ball when teammates threw it to him and twice picked it up off the ground when it was hit toward him.
The Marlins didn’t allow a baserunner until Realmuto exited in the sixth. For company, he deployed his backup plan of yucking it up with first-base umpire CB Bucknor instead.
“It was very lonely, honestly,” Realmuto said. “I let [Bucknor] know to stay with me since it was my first time.”
Realmuto’s only previous professional experience at first base was six innings one day in 2012 for High-A Jupiter, so this is almost entirely new to him. The Marlins’ hope is to give him — and the team — an extra degree of versatility, since they are likely to open the season with only four bench players. Realmuto will still be the team’s starting catcher.
Realmuto has been working out at first about three days per week with infield coach Perry Hill. Manager Don Mattingly, a nine-time Gold Glove winner at first in the 1980s and ’90s, has been mostly hands-off.
The plan is for Realmuto to play first base in Grapefruit League action about once a week for the rest of spring training.
“If he looks really comfortable, then we don’t have to worry about it too much,” Mattingly said.
Realmuto’s game reps Saturday, at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches against the Astros, were about as simple as it gets.
The Marlins’ first defensive play of the game was a grounder to third. Upon catching Brian Anderson’s throw across the diamond for the out, Realmuto celebrated with a small fist pump.
The second play was a slow roller to first.
“Probably the easiest ground ball I’ll get all year,” Realmuto said.
Realmuto said the most difficult part of learning first base has been footwork, like which foot to leave on the bag when stretching for a throw. The Marlins want to see how Realmuto performs on a first baseman’s more complicated plays — cutting off a relay throw, for example, or holding runners on or fielding bunts.
The expectation is Realmuto will be able to figure out when to run to the right spots and where those spots are. And his athleticism won’t hurt.
Marlins sign 22
Twenty-two Marlins officially received their 2017 major league contracts this week.
Nineteen pre-arbitration players agreed to deals for the major league minimum salary of $535,000 or something close to it, and three —
Jose Urena, Brian Ellington and Hunter Cervenka — had their contracts renewed by the club, according to a source with knowledge of the moves.
The process is largely a formality, since all are under team control this season anyway.
Players on the 40-man roster who have three or fewer years of major league service time are not yet eligible for arbitration. Pre-arb players, as they are called, usually find common ground with the team and sign for an amount mutually considered appropriate.
Even if the players do not agree, they are still under team control, so organizations can unilaterally renew pre-arb players for whatever amount the team sees fit. Declining to agree as Urena, Ellington and Cervenka did is largely a symbolic move.
Among those who did agree are Realmuto, first baseman Justin Bour, left-hander Adam Conley, right-hander Dan Straily, utility man Miguel Rojas and reliever Kyle Barraclough.
Realmuto will receive $562,500 and Conley $537,500, a source confirmed to the Sun Sentinel. Urena is due to make $535,000. Those figures were first reported by the Miami Herald.
The others who agreed are: Nick Wittgren, Justin Nicolino, Destin Hood, Tomas Telis, Yefri Perez, Odrisamer Despaigne, Jake Esch, Severino Gonzalez, Jarlin Garcia, Drew Steckenrider, J.T. Riddle, Austin Nola and Tayron Guerrero.