Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Kintzler bounces back from bad day
Closer candidate in groove, pitches a perfect inning
PORT ST. LUCIE — Brandon Kintzler, a serious contender to be the Miami Marlins’ closer on Opening Day, wasn’t too concerned with his fourwalk outing Friday. Disappointed? Sure. But not concerned.
The veteran relief pitcher has been spots like that before. He anticipates bumps in the road during spring training. He would be nervous otherwise. The goal, Kintzler said, is to identify any mechanical problems early on and hone in on perfecting them as spring training progresses.
He bounced back Tuesday, needing just nine pitches (six strikes) to complete a perfect fifth inning against the New York Mets in Miami’s 6-1 win at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie.
“I was happy to get Strike 1. That’s really what I was focusing on,” said Kintzler, a 10-year MLB veteran who has played in 430 career games. “Even if they got hits, I didn’t care. Just get back in the strike zone. That’s my mentality to get myself aggressive. I was kind of mechanically off [my last outing]. It was a good reset for me. Sometimes, you think you’re going well and you forget to do your rechecks. It was good to go back and recheck and start over a little bit.”
The reset in this scenario: Lowering his hands as he gets ready to pitch. It’s a simple adjustment, but one that helps the 35-year-old steady his command and find the strike zone. It worked Tuesday as he got Dominic Smith to ground out to Isan Diaz at second base, Jake Marisnick to fly out to Lewis Brinson in right field and Jeff McNeil to ground out to Lewin Diaz
at first base.
“I didn’t really have too much concern about him,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “I think it was just one of things that he got out of whack, he got out of sequence or whatever. I knew he would get back.”
Kintzler has about three more weeks to keep finetuning until the Marlins open the 2020 season against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 26. He anticipates getting steady work every few days in live game settings until the season starts.
“I just like to be treated normal,” Kintzler said. “I don’t like to have too many days off because then you can talk yourself into some bad habits. I like to get out there as much as I can.” and Braxton Garrett worked out of a basesloaded jam in the ninth to close out the game.
■ Catcher Chad Wallach went 2 for 2 with a pair of RBI on Tuesday and now leads the Marlins with eight RBI in spring training.
■ Mattingly has been impressed with 2019 firstround pick JJ Bleday, who recorded another hit on Tuesday and is now 3 for 9 in spring training. “You see a polished guy,” Mattingly said. “You see a guy that’s mature about his routine, mature about his approach. You see a pro, a kid you see he knows is going to have a good handle on what he needs to do. Obviously experience as he goes is going to help him, but this kid’s got a solid mind and routine. He’s an adult.”
■ The Marlins have their first split-squad day of the season on Wednesday, hosting the Baltimore Orioles at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium and playing against the Houston Astros at the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Both games are scheduled for 1:05 p.m. starts. Caleb Smith is scheduled to start in Jupiter against the Orioles and Elieser Hernandez has the nod against the Astros in West Palm Beach. Bench coach James Rowson will serve as the Marlins’ manager for the game against the Astros.