Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Top of the lineup rounding into form
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The top of the fourth inning Monday at the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches provided a microcosm of what the Miami Marlins hope to see from the top of their lineup during the 2020 season.
Leadoff hitter Jonathan Villar, who hit a home run one day earlier, began the inning with an infield single, beating the throw from Washington Nationals third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera by a step. Brian Anderson followed with a double off the left-field wall to put two runners into scoring position. Left fielder Corey Dickerson brought the first run of the inning home with a hard ground ball to Nationals first baseman Howie Kendrick, and then cleanup hitter Jesus Aguilar finished the mini offensive surge with a single to right field that fell just fair.
Four at-bats. Three hits. Two runs.
A sign of what the Marlins hope could be big things from their veteran-heavy top of the lineup when regular-season games begin on March 26.
“Usually the top of the order is really where over time the most damage is done throughout the league,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said following the 3-2 walk-off loss. “You’re hoping to get your guys rolling. The guys we have, we feel better about our lineup — the depth of it, the length of it. We’re just trying to get ready now.”
The Marlins are about halfway through spring training, with just more than three weeks left until
Opening Day. Pitchers are slowly beginning to increase their pitch count, and the guys expected to be regulars in the starting lineup are getting between two and three at-bats per spring training start they play now depending on the flow of the game.
“Guys are still getting their timing. Guys are still figuring out where the strike zone is,” Anderson said. “A lot of us are older guys, and we know what we need to do to get ready for the season. Right now, we’re trying to win games in spring training, but we’re also working on getting that timing back, making sure we’re swinging at good pitches and getting ready for Opening Day.”
Cabrera brings heat
Edward Cabrera watched Adrian Sanchez take his 97 mph fastball over the left-field fence for a game-tying solo home run. Cabrera knew it was a bad pitch during a bad situation. He fell behind in the count 3-1 to Sanchez, the first batter he faced and Monday, and threw the ball over the heart of the plate.
His next pitch: 100 mph to catcher Taylor Gushue.
“I kind of focused a little bit more,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “I said ‘Whatever. Let’s go.’”
Cabrera settled down afterward, retired six of the final seven batters he faced, including strikeouts of Gushue and rising Nationals star Juan Soto.
And his pitches had some pop to them. In addition to his fastball hitting triple digits, Cabrera’s changeup topped out Monday at 94 mph, a velocity many pitchers hope to reach with their fastball let alone a breaking ball.
“It’s something very difficult to explain,” said Cabrera, the Marlins’ No. 6 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline. “I grab it like a changeup, but I throw it like a fastball. It just does it’s thing. That’s the way I do it. I treat it as a fastball. I’ve been learning to manage that pitch and thank goodness it’s my secondbest pitch.”
More notables
■ Pablo Lopez rebounded from a shaky first inning Monday, giving up just one earned run on one hit and three walks while striking out two. Lopez, looking to be in the middle of the Marlins’ rotation, threw 49 pitches with 27 going for strikes. The 23-year-old loaded the bases with one out in the first but got both Yadiel Hernandez and Michael A. Taylor to ground out to only allow one run to score.
■ Someone to watch out for in the battle for bullpen spots: Brad Boxberger. The non-oster invitee and one-time All-Star has impressed early in spring training, throwing 31⁄3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts, no walks, no hits and one hit batter. “He’s been more than expected, really,” Mattingly said. “He’s got velo back. He’s been touching 93, 94. That changeup just adds to it. He has a cutter that he throws. I’ve been happy with how he’s thrown the ball. He’s an experienced guy that has been in the back end of games.”
■ The Marlins face the New York Mets at 1 p.m. on Tuesday at Port St. Lucie’s Clover Park. Jordan Yamamoto will face the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard.