Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Telis makes pitch to catch a spot on Opening Day roster
JUPITER — Tomas Telis signed his first baseball contract a couple weeks after his 16th birthday. He’s been chasing his big-league dream for 10 seasons in the minors, at numerous stops from the Dominican Republic to Spokane.
Now 26, the native of Venezuela is on the brink of being on an Opening Day roster in the majors for the first time as the Marlins’ backup catcher. He’s waited too long to take anything for granted.
“I’ve got a really good chance, but they don’t tell me nothing yet. So I’ve got to be prepared for everything this year,” Telis said this week as the Marlins approached the end of spring training and the final roster decisions. “I can be better, so I’m going to keep working on that and try to make those pitchers be comfortable with me.”
It is now or never for Telis with the Marlins. After bouncing between Triple-A and short stints in the majors since 2014 with Texas and Miami, he is out of minor league options.
Acquired from the Rangers in a 2015 trade for reliever Sam Dyson, Telis has value as a switch hitter who can play first base as well as catcher. The question has been whether he can handle the varied responsibilities behind the plate well enough to claim the job.
He has shown progress in throwing out three of five runners attempting to steal this spring. But Marlins manager Don Mattingly points out that is only part of the challenge of a demanding position.
“It’s managing the game, knowing exactly where he wants to go with certain situations with hitters and things like that,” Mattingly said. “It’s all part of his progress. He’s getting better and we’re going to ask him to continue to improve.”
Telis never aspired to the position, though at 5 feet 8, 200 pounds, he is built for it.
“That’s not my natural position,” he said. “When I was young, I was an infielder. When I signed, they turned me into a catcher right away. That was different. It’s hard to be a catcher, it’s not easy.”
The Rangers signed him as soon as he was eligible because of the ability he showed at the plate. Telis could always swing the bat, from an early age.
At 17, he hit .299 in his first pro season in the Dominican Summer league. That following year, 2009, he played in the United States for the first time.
He couldn’t speak English, but his bat spoke loudly with a combined average of .330 in rookie league in Arizona and Low-A for Spokane in the Northwest league.
The language barrier added to the difficulty of the position.
“That was tough for me because you don’t speak English, you don’t know how to communicate with the pitcher or the pitching coach,” he said. “We had to learn that and now I feel better. My English is better, I can make a conversation.”
Telis has been in the conversation for the backup catcher job since appearing in 48 games for the Marlins last season. Veteran catcher A.J. Ellis wasn’t re-signed and there is little catching depth in the system.
Among catchers in camp, Bryan Holaday has the most major league experience with 147 games (110 starts), but he is a non-roster invitee.
Telis appeared in a career-high 48 games for the Marlins last season, but has only 24 starts at catcher in parts of four seasons in the majors.
Nonetheless, his bat and contract ensured he’d receive serious consideration this spring training. He has responded to the opportunity, hitting .282 with seven RBI in 19 games while showing improvement on the defensive skills.
Backing up starting catcher J.T. Realmuto can be a one-sided situation. Realmuto started 125 games last season and is expected to carry a similar workload.
But Realmuto has been out for nearly two weeks recovering from a bruise in his lower back. Although he vows to be ready for Opening Day, it’s not a certainty.
Telis, a quiet but amiable presence in the clubhouse, is ready and waiting to learn what he will be doing when the Marlins open the season on Thursday against the Cubs at Marlins Park.
Mattingly is taking the competition down to the final few days of camp at a number of positions, including back-up catcher, but it increasingly seems Telis will figure in their plans.
“I’m excited. I will be proud if I make the team,” Telis said. “All those years, a lot of work – you feel really good.”
Marlins third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez was the first manager in the organization under H. Wayne Huizenga, who died Thursday. Gonzalez managed the Erie Sailors in the New York-Penn League in 1992, a year before the Marlins began play.
Gonzalez recalls that Huizenga and more than 20 team officials flew in on the owner’s plane for the Sailors’ debut that year. “You talk about being scared, you get to manage the first game in Erie and he shows up with all the family and everybody’s there,” said Gonzalez, who was 28 at the time. “That was his first game he ever got to watch as an owner of an organization.
Gonzalez said that while managing the Marlins’ affiliate in Brevard County he had some encounters with Huizenga, who had a residence nearby.
“Every time he came down he would always be very cordial, very friendly,” Gonzalez said. “I just remember, he always had those [intense] eyes – they burned with passion.”