Saltalamacchia upbeat despite benching
NEW YORK — Make no mistake, Jarrod Saltalamacchia isn’t happy sitting on the Marlins’ bench.
Benched for the third consecutive game Friday, the veteran catcher also made it clear that he is keeping a positive outlook about his forced inactivity.
“I can’t control this. I can’t go in and grab the lineup and put my name in there. Do I want to be in there? Yes. There’s not a day I don’t want to be in there,” Saltalamacchia said. “I’m not going to sit here and complain and b----.
“Am I mad? Yeah I’m mad. I want to play. But that’s not helping the team. I’m not going to hurt this team. I’m not going to be the reason that causes a distraction.”
J.T. Realmuto, called up from Triple-A New Orleans due to the injury to back-up catcher Jeff Mathis, was in the lineup for the third consecutive game.
Saltalamacchia got off to a rough start at the plate, batting .091 (2-for-22) in seven games, six starts. He had struck out 11 times.
“Six games in is a really tough sample to go off of. I’ve never been in this situation before, so it’s a little different,” he said. “No hard feelings whatsoever. I want to win. My job is to help the team win. So whatever I can do to help is what I’m going to do.”
He said that includes helping mentor Realmuto, who is considered the Marlins’ catcher of the future. The 24-year-old has made a positive impression this week with the bat and his work behind the plate.
“He looks good. I watched some of the pitches he called [Thursday] night and he was definitely on the same page I was on,” Saltalamacchia said. “He looks relaxed. It looks like he’s not pressing too hard, which is big for a young guy. I think he’s doing a good job and hope he continues to.”
Realmuto went 0-for-4 in Thursday’s loss to the Mets. But he had an infield hit overturned on replay and hit a potentially game-changing drive to the wall with the bases loaded that Curtis Granderson caught in the right-field corner.
Saltalamacchia, who batted a disappointing .220 in his first season with the Marlins, said he continues to prepare to play, but added, “I’ve always felt game situations is the best work.”
Manager Mike Redmond said, “We need Salty, he’s a big part of this team. Sometimes just a couple days to regroup motivates guys. Hopefully it will do that with him.”
Ozuna sits
Marcell Ozuna, another slumping regular, was out of the lineup Friday with Ichiro Suzuki taking his place in center field. Ozuna was batting .194 with one extra-base hit.
On the possibility of Ichiro getting more time in center, Redmond said, “It’s more the fact that [Ozuna] needs a day and this was a perfect time to get him a day … to just kind of relax and work with [hitting coach] Frankie [Menechino] in the cage and be ready to go for tomorrow. The luxury of having Ichiro is we can give these guys some days off.”