Stallings wants to make an impact with glove, bat
SAN FRANCISCO
When the Marlins traded for Jacob Stallings in late November, the hope was that acquiring the National League’s reigning Glove Glove catcher would be a benefit for the team’s pitching staff and shore up one of their weaker spots defensively.
Stallings is already showing he has the chance to help more than just behind the plate.
The 32-year-old had an all-around solid performance in the Marlins’ Opening Day, extra-inning loss to the San Francisco Giants, going 2 for 4 with a two-run home run and
RBI single in addition to throwing out two runners on the basepaths and helping ace Sandy Alcantara maneuver through a shaky start on the mound.
His home run in the seventh gave the Marlins their first runs of the game. His single sparked a threerun rally in the ninth that temporarily gave Miami the lead until Anthony Bender gave up a game-tying home run in the bottom half of the frame.
So while defense is
Stallings’ strength — and one the Marlins plan to lean on a lot this season — having another bat at the bottom of the lineup that can produce would be an added benefit.
“Just worked really hard on that in the offseason,” Stallings said about his offensive approach. “Everybody wants to hit. [You can] be the best defender in the league, it’s not fun going out there and not helping your team win offensively. So to get us back in the game and help the team — we’ve got a really good lineup — anything I can contribute is going to be helpful.”
Before his offense showed up on Friday, he made a couple key contributions defensively. He got Alcantara out of a first-inning jam when he picked off Darin Ruf on second base. According to Statcast, Stallings’ throw on the pickoff was clocked at 81.8 mph, which would rank in the 95th percentile of catchers, and his pop time (the time it takes a catcher to make a throw to second base after the ball hits his glove) was 1.94 seconds.
He also caught Mike Yastrzemski trying to steal in the fifth inning.
“Everything he does behind the plate you like,” manager Don Mattingly said. “This guy’s going to be ready for games, he’s going to block, he’s going to throw. He’s not going to have that same cannontype arm, but it’s going to be quick. It’s going to be accurate. He’s going to be good for us. We can already see that.”
PLAYING MATCHUPS
With the Marlins facing a left-handed starting pitcher in Carlos Rodon on Saturday, Mattingly switched up his lineup from Opening Day.
Center fielder Jesus Sanchez was the only left-handed hitter in the starting lineup and he moved down from third to seventh in the order. Brian Anderson replaced Joey Wendle at third, while Jon Berti swapped in for Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base.
“We’re going to match up,” Mattingly said.
While the lineup will likely fluctuate on a gameby-game basis throughout the season, that doesn’t mean those on the bench aren’t going to get into games. Mattingly plans to take advantage of the depth and the fact that he doesn’t have to worry about using pinch-hitters because he has the designated hitter spot in the lineup now.
That could mean Wendle pinch-hitting for righties Miguel Rojas or Anderson late and then finishing the game at shortstop or third base. Or righty Bryan De La Cruz doing the same for lefty Sanchez and finishing the game in center field.
“You’re probably not going to see me hit for [Jorge] Soler or Agui [Jesus Aguilar] or Avi [Avisail Garcia],” Mattingly said, “but some of our left-right [options], we’ll try to take advantage of.”
INJURY UPDATES
Left-handed relief pitcher Sean Guenther, already on the 60-day injured list, underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday.
Dylan Floro, on the 10-day IL with right rotator cuff tendinitis, threw a 25-pitch bullpen session on Thursday in San Francisco.
AA