Rookie Anderson gets a chance
JUPITER — Even the cautious approach wasn’t enough to get Martin Prado through spring training healthy and ready to begin the season at third base for the Marlins.
The team’s unofficial captain felt discomfort behind his surgically repaired right knee while running Tuesday and will not reach his goal of being in the lineup on Opening Day. The setback will open the way for rookie Brian Anderson to begin the season at third, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
“We know it kicks him out of Opening Day. He’ll be no activity for a few days and we go from there,” Mattingly said Wednesday morning. “He was borderline anyway.”
Prado had arthroscopic surgery on the knee in late July, ending an injury-plagued season. After signing a three-year, $40 million contract, Prado played in only 37 games in 2017 that included two stints on the disabled list with strains to the hamstring in the same leg.
The team’s highest-paid position player this season at $13.5 million, Prado has not seen game action this spring but has been facing live pitching, fielding and running.
Mattingly said realistically the target had been for Prado to be ready for the first road trip, April 5-8 at Philadelphia.
While there now is no timeline for when he’ll be able to play, that uncertainty pro-
vides opportunity for Anderson to become entrenched at third.
“Hes been kind of knocking on that door anyway. So it puts more playing time on him. I would say that’s fair to say that opens the door for him,” Mattingly said. “I’ve been comfortable [with him.]”
Anderson, 24, made his major league debut with the Marlins in September, batting .262 in 25 games. He has two home runs and three doubles this spring while hitting .250.
He has shown the ability to hit for power to all fields. On Sunday, Anderson hit an opposite-field three-run homer against the Yankees and also doubled into the gap in right-center.
The injury news was more positive for starting catcher J.T. Realmuto, who said Wednesday that he is recovering quickly from a low back bruise and expects to be back in the lineup later this week.
“Two days ago I could hardly walk,” Realmuto said. “As long as I’m walking without any pain I’m happy with that. So it’s going away.”
Realmuto was hurt Sunday when he got picked off second base and tangled with Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres while trying to get back to the base. It was his first game after missing two with a bruised knee.
“I tried to elude him and his knee jammed into my back and created a little contusion in that area,” Realmuto said. “It just kind of locked up and started to spasm on me.”
Realmuto said he is confident he will have adequate time to get ready for the March 29 opener against the Cubs.
Pitching competition
With 11 days remaining in spring training, at least nine pitchers were still vying for three openings in the starting rotation. Mattingly said he intends to continue the evaluation process to the end of camp, and it won’t end there.
“Whoever it ends up bebefore ing, that’s just the start of it. You’re just getting the first opportunity,” Mattingly said. “We’ve used 13 starters the last two or three years. We’re going to need all these guys.”
One of the newcomers in the mix, left-hander Caleb Smith was acquired in a minor deal with the Yankees after a breakout season in Triple-A, going, 9-1 with a 2.39 ERA in 17 starts and one relief appearance with 97 strikeouts and 28 walks.
He has impressed Mattingly with a deceptive delivery, though seven walks in 11 innings have been a drawback.
“I’ve always had hitters tell me they can’t pick up the ball very good out of my hand,” Smith said of the turn in his motion before releasing the ball. “I’ve just got to cut back on the walks.”
Smith walked four in four innings in his most recent outing Tuesday against the Cardinals. He also struck out four while allowing no runs and one hit.
Smith attributed his improvement last season in part to his experience last year in spring training with the Cubs as a Rule 5 draftee being returned to the Yankees organization.
“They helped me with a little bit of stuff – small things, like moving over to one side of the rubber. And I kind of dropped my arm angle a little bit, so that helped out a lot,” Smith said.
As for the competition among the rotation candidates, he said, “There’s going to be a lot of moves up and down, so I feel like eventually everybody will get up there.”
Also making a strong showing is right-hander Elieser Hernandez, a Rule 5 pick who must stick with Miami all season or be returned to the Astros.
Hernandez, 22, has a 2.70 ERA over 10 innings in four appearances. Most impressive is he hasn’t walked a batter while striking out 10.
He had a setback this week with dental surgery to remove a wisdom tooth, which will keep him out of his scheduled start on Thursday.