Shuffle puts Stanton in the cleanup spot
JUPITER — With spring training games beginning, manager Don Mattingly provided his first vision Monday for unlocking the potential of the Miami Marlins’ lineup, which is a departure from the past.
Making it clear this is a time to experiment and nothing is set, Mattingly unveiled the lineup for today’s exhibition against the University of Miami with Giancarlo Stanton batting cleanup, a shift from the No. 3 spot he has usually occupied in recent years.
Previous managers have followed the logic that having Stanton bat third ensures the team’s most dangerous hitter gets up in the first inning, and gives him more plate appearances over time. Mattingly’s objective is to have Stanton come up with runners on base as often as possible.
“We talked about the three spot being a spot that comes up the least with men on base,” Mattingly said. “The first lineup of the year, you don’t know if it’s going to stay like that. It’s
just a matter of trying to use our personnel, hopefully, the best way to score runs.”
While teams often have their best power hitter in the cleanup spot, the bigger surprise has Marcell Ozuna following leadoff hitter Dee Gordon and Christian Yelich batting third.
Ozuna is a free-swinger who hasn’t exhibited the plate discipline usually preferred for a No. 2 hitter. Mattingly suggested that the base-stealing threat posed by the speedy Gordon could benefit Ozuna as a hitter.
“He hits the fastball pretty good. You can kind of count on Dee getting on. They like to throw him out,” Mattingly said.
Although Yelich has most often batted first or second, the Marlins have projected him to become a No. 3 hitter. He hit .300 last season but has yet to generate the power numbers generally expected in that spot.
“He’s really good hitter, he get son base ,” Mattingly said of Yelich. “There are a couple guys that can drive in runs like that, and he’s also on base for guys behind him. That’s really what you want for Giancarlo, you want to have guys on base.”
After Stanton, today’s lineup has Justin Bour, Martin Prado, Ichiro Suzuki (DH), J.T. Realmuto and Adeiny Hechavarria.
“We’ve got a lot of balance, we’ve got a lot of depth. We can score runs in a lot of different ways,” Yelich said.
The regulars will likely only bat once against the Hurricanes.
Likewise, Mattingly will run out a revolving door of pitchers — with Jake Esch, a highly regarded right-handed prospect — expected to work two innings at most. Most of the other eight pitchers available are minor leaguers.
Tom Koehler, who led the Marlins in wins and innings last season, will start the first Grapefruit League game Thursday against the Cardinals. Jose Fernandez and Edwin Jackson will be on opposite sides of a simulated game Wednesday.
“I think everybody is excited. When you start games you start bringing a different energy level, and you get to start putting the stuff that you’ve been working on into actual practice,” Koehler said. “Everybody gets a chance to work on what they need to for the season in a little bit more of a higher focus level than maybe on the back field.”
Although the exhibitions provide a basis for evaluating players in game situations, Mattingly said he looks beyond the results in making roster decisions. Spring training statistics can be misleading, he noted, sometimes skewed by facing players who will end up in the minors.
“As much as anything, you look at how a guy handles himself over time,” Mattingly said.
“If he has a good at-bat, [or] a bad at-bat — the way they carry themselves after that tells you a story.
“If a guy is dragging his head around it tells you he’s probably not a very confident guy.
“The guys that can really hit, they have a bad at-bat and they walk back like, ‘It’s just a matter of time.’ ”