2010 Spring Training Rotation Thread

[Swifty]

This made me

[Party]

Physical manifestation of what Boner means to the line-up.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Opposing batters have something else to prepare for when facing Chris Volstad.

In the offseason, Volstad added a slider to his pitching repertoire.

On Friday, the 23-year-old unveiled the pitch on a couple of occasions in the Marlins' 4-3 win over the Mets at Tradition Field.

In the first inning, Volstad snapped off a slider to strike out Jason Bay. In the second inning, he threw one that Rod Barajas swung through.

In all, Volstad tossed two scoreless innings, scattering two hits while striking out two.

Able to command his sinker, the 6-foot-8 Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., native exited the field on a chilly 61-degree afternoon encouraged. A good sign is when he is getting ground-ball outs. Volstad had three of them, compared to one flyout.

"I felt good. I felt my two-seamer was sinking again," said Volstad, who threw 27 pitches with 17 strikes. "It was downhill, moving. I got my ground balls."

A year ago, when he was an inconsistent 9-13 with a 5.21 ERA, Volstad lost command of his sinker. A decision was made late in the season to add the slider for 2010.

"We talked about it a little bit toward the end of last year," Volstad said. "We sat down with [former pitching coach Mark Wiley] and talked. I'd been thinking about it myself. I guess it was time to add something else to make hitters think about."

Volstad is competing for a rotation spot. While he is a likely candidate to make it, a decision hasn't been finalized.

Adding a new pitch gives Volstad another weapon to make his case.

"Any time you can command three pitches at the Major League level, it's big," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He threw a couple of good [sliders] today. We'll work on it again."

Volstad is calling the new pitch a slider. In his mind, it is more like a cutter, which looks like a fastball but has late-breaking movement.

"Catchers say it's a slider," Volstad said. "I say to myself [that it's a] cutter, because it helps me to mentally stay behind the ball. A lot of it is mentally working through it."

It's a pitch that plays off his sinker and breaks down and away from right-handed hitters.

Volstad is also throwing his breaking ball and an occasional changeup.

"It's just a different look from my curveball," Volstad said. "My curveball is kind of big. They see it coming out of my hand. That slider, hopefully, it will keep guys from cheating on my two-seamer [or sinker]."

In relief of Volstad, Hayden Penn pitched two innings, giving up two runs on three hits.

Penn is also in the mix for a rotation spot. The right-hander, who is out of options, is expected to start in his next outing, with Volstad coming in relief.

"I look at this as the same situation I've had the last four years," Penn said. "You come in, if you get it done, you make the team. If you don't, you don't. That's the way it should be. That's the way it is here, just like all over baseball. There are guys in my position all over baseball.

"You come in, get it done and make the team. If not, you go to Triple-A somewhere and work your way back up."

New pitch makes Volstad formidable

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

On Monday, the Marlins have a split-squad day.

Ricky Nolasco will start against the Nationals in Viera. Ryan Tucker and Burke Badenhop are among the pitchers also making the trip.

At Roger Dean Stadium, Rick VandenHurk will start against the Mets. Initially, Tucker was in consideration to start this game. But the nod is going to VandenHurk. Cristhian Martinez, Jose Veras and Scott Strickland also are scheduled to pitch.

The Marlins on Tuesday will face the Red Sox in Jupiter. Former Boston prospect Anibal Sanchez will start. Kris Harvey, Tim Wood, Sanches, Renyel Pinto and Leo Nunez are lined up that day, too.

And Wednesday, when the Marlins travel to Kissimmee to face the Astros, Hayden Penn will start. Chris Volstad will enter in relief, as will Jay Voss and Brett Sinkbeil.

Worth noting ...

Interesting. To me, it sounds like Anibal has locked up his spot (not much of a surprise since all the beat writers have now said that him and Volstad would have to absolutley suck this spring in order to lose their spots) and RVH has now moved closer to the other 5th starter candidates (West and Miller) by pitching the day after them.

[Swifty]

Aside from JJ and Nolasco, nothing we do with the rotation would surprise me.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Okay, apparently Frisaro was being himself. Now, everyone (including Frisaro himself) says that Tucker will start on Monday and VandenHurk will pitch on Tuesday with Anibal.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Assessing their performances on Sunday afternoon, it was a day to pretty much forget rather than to build upon.

Sean West and Andrew Miller, two left-handers vying for spots in the Marlins' rotation, each worked two innings and both struggled to throw strikes in Florida's 7-4 loss to St. Louis at Roger Dean Stadium.

West worked the first two innings, yielding one run on one hit with three walks. Of his 36 pitches, 17 were strikes.

Miller took over in the third and went two innings, giving up three runs on three hits with two walks. He tossed 35 pitches, with 16 strikes.

"One walked three, and the other guy walked two. That's not what we want," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "But they got out of those innings. They got their pitch counts up for the next time, and we'll see how that plays out."

The Marlins have an open competition for three rotation spots.

The team has stated that only Opening Day starter Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco, who will pitch Game 2, are set. Six candidates are in the mix for the other three spots -- Anibal Sanchez, Chris Volstad, West, Miller, Rick VandenHurk and Hayden Penn.

For West to win a spot, he has to consistently throw strikes. It was a challenge for the 23-year-old in his first Grapefruit League start.

"Just forget about this one and focus on the next one," said West, who was 8-6 with a 4.79 ERA in 20 starts last year.

How easy will it be to do that?

"Its easy in the spring because there is nothing weighing on each start," the 6-foot-8 pitcher said. "Just go out there, and get your work in, and just throw strikes. That's all they want to see, cutting down the walks and throwing first-pitch strikes. Just getting guys out, getting ground balls. I didn't do that today. You just look forward to the next one."

After a rough first inning, West did retire the side in order in the second.

West walked three in the first inning, which set up a Cardinals run. Some good fortune helped him get out of early trouble. After walking Julio Lugo to open the first, West picked off the Cardinals' leadoff batter. Felipe Lopez walked, and with one out, Matt Holliday also walked. Yadier Molina slapped an RBI single to left.

Andrew Miller entered in the third inning and retired the side in order. But in his second inning, he ran into trouble with two outs and no one on base. Molina singled and David Freese walked. Nick Stavinoha singled to load the bases, and Joe Mather drove a three-run double to left.

Miller has been working on his mechanics since the end of last year, when he was 3-5 with a 4.84 ERA.

Tempo was an issue with the 6-foot-7 pitcher, who felt he was rushing.

"I was a little bit anxious to get one under my belt, and definitely I showed that on the mound, just rushing through my delivery a little bit," Miller said. "The times when I would stay back I would execute my pitches like I know I can. The times when I would rush through, I wouldn't.

"Hopefully next time out, now that I got one under my belt, I'll be a little more in control."

Two rotation hopefuls struggle with strikes

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

I guess they're not flip-flopping starters for the second time through the order. At least, not with Anibal and VandenHurk unless all the beat writers are wrong. Everything I see says that Sanchez will start tomorrow when it should be VandenHurk if they were switching.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Throwing 54 percent of his pitches for strikes isn't what got Anibal Sanchez to the big leagues.

At his best, the 26-year-old right-hander relies on pinpoint control. The Marlins saw it when Sanchez was a rookie in 2006, the year he no-hit Arizona and finished 10-3 with a 2.83 ERA.

In recent years, Sanchez has dealt with right shoulder injuries and a surgery in 2007.

Healthy now, Sanchez is still laboring to regain command of his pitches. That's been evident in his first two Grapefruit League starts.

In a 9-0 loss to the Red Sox at Roger Dean Stadium on Tuesday, Sanchez gave up five runs (four earned) over 2 1/3 innings. Repeatedly falling behind in counts, the Maracay, Venezuela, native threw 52 pitches, 27 for strikes. he walked three and struck out three.

"Bad day," he said. "I don't want to do that. If I throw 50 pitches, I want to go five innings. I don't want to go 2 1/3. That's not me."

In his first two Grapefruit League starts, Sanchez has throw 93 total pitches over 4 1/3 innings. Just 54 percent of those deliveries have resulted in strikes.

"He wasn't commanding his fastball. He got behind a little bit. That's all," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It's the second start of the spring. We'll look to make progress in his next side [session] and move on to his next start."

In terms of velocity, Sanchez is fine. He feels fine, physically, but he left too many pitches high in the zone on Tuesday.

"I threw a lot of fastballs up," Sanchez said. "I didn't want to do that. If I miss, I want to miss down."

Sanchez was groomed in the Red Sox's system, and he was dealt to the Marlins as part of the Josh Beckett/Mike Lowell trade after the 2005 season.

Facing his former franchise, he said, wasn't a factor.

In fact, he's faced them before. His second big league appearance in 2006 was a relief effort against Boston. And he's taken the mound in past Spring Training games against the Red Sox.

"It doesn't matter. It's another team that I have to pitch against," Sanchez said. "It doesn't matter if it's the Red Sox or Yankees, or a big-name team."

Sanchez is looking to secure a rotation spot, and he remains a front-runner. It's still early in camp, and he will get a few more starts before Opening Day.

But if he isn't commanding his fastball in late March, it could raise some concerns.

As Sanchez labored with command, the Marlins had an encouraging performance from Rick VandenHurk.

The right-hander threw three scoreless innings, yielding one hit and one walk, while striking out two.

VandenHurk is improving his chances for a rotation spot.

"I was relying a lot on my fastball and trying to attack with my fastball," he said. "Sometimes it was for strikes today, sometimes it wasn't. I'm going to work on that, trying to become more consistent.

"You're facing big league hitters, you can't just throw fastballs. You've got to mix it up. At times I tried to do too much with it, and it wasn't as good. But I was happy about today."

The Marlins haven't mapped out their rotation for five days from now, but chances are they will shuffle things up to give VandenHurk a start.

"Vandy looked real good," Gonzalez said. "He was pounding the strike zone. His secondary pitches were outstanding. It's no coincidence, when you throw strikes, good things can happen."

Sanchez battles control issues

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

I stll think he's a long shot but I'll throw him in here anyway.

For someone who is out of options, Hayden Penn is certainly creating opportunity.

Entering Spring Training, the 25-year-old right-hander was regarded as a long shot to win a rotation spot. Now, the way he is throwing the ball, don't count him out.

"Right now, I'm not ruling him out for being one of the five," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We always mention his name as being in the mix, and he's still in the mix. Worst-case scenario, he's a guy in the bullpen or the sixth guy."

Penn improved his stock with three perfect innings against the Astros on Wednesday in Kissimmee, Fla.

Making his first start, and second appearance, the righty was clocked in the 92-93 mph range. He's added a sinker to his arsenal this spring and induced six ground-ball outs from the Astros.

"It's a new pitch for me," Penn said. "Getting ground balls is a good sign. I felt like it had some late life. It's still a work in progress. But it's an encouraging sign to get ground balls when I'm behind in the count."

Florida has maintained there are six candidates for three rotation spots -- Anibal Sanchez, Chris Volstad, Sean West, Rick VandenHurk, Andrew Miller and Penn.

It's still too early to determine the front-runners, although Sanchez and Volstad are viewed as favorites. Still, anything can happen, and more telling signs will surface as pitchers build up toward the 100-pitch mark.

Getting through the batting order once isn't the most accurate measure. But working in Penn's favor is the fact he is performing.

His situation is pretty clear. Without any options left, Penn would have to make the Opening Day roster or the Marlins would risk losing him.

Based on how he's thrown, it is doubtful that if Penn is designated for assignment that he would clear waivers. Another possibility is he can be traded later in the month, if the Marlins feel he isn't part of their plans.

Considering he went through this routine last year, Penn is better prepared to handle being in a position of making it or moving on.

This time last year, Penn was out of options with the Orioles. Shortly before Opening Day, he was deal to the Marlins for infielder Robert Andino.

Penn opened 2009 pitching in long relief, and he had a rough time with Florida, posting a 7.77 ERA in 22 innings. He eventually was designated for assignment, cleared waivers and went to Triple-A New Orleans. Late in the season, he started performing.

"When we got him in that trade for Andino, you've got to give him credit," Gonzalez said. "He went to New Orleans and pitched well. The reports were good. Over the course of the year, as a starter, he was pitching well. Coming into camp this year, he's continued to pitch well. Good for him."

Even if he isn't in the rotation, the Marlins may decide to keep him as a reliever and use him as an emergency starter.

After the season, Florida added Penn to its 40-man roster.

"I definitely know what the process is like," Penn said. "Last year, I was kind of wondering, day in and day out. It's so hard to get guys out as it is. To worry about other stuff makes it impossible.

"You have no control over anything but what you do. My mindset this year is, 'Do what you can do, and let everything else take care of itself.' "

Having already gone through the anxiety of not knowing his status has prepared him for it in Spring Training.

"It definitely made it easier," he said. "Last year, I was wrestling with it all the time. It's so hard to compete at this level, you don't need anything else."

Penn has repeatedly said in camp if he doesn't perform on the mound, it doesn't matter how much he speculates about where he might wind up.

"What can I do but go out and pitch?" he said. "It's the only thing I can do. If I don't get it done, I don't get it done. Then [worrying is] a moot point anyway.

"All I can worry about is what I do when I get out there between the lines. I like it here. Not just the organization, but the guys are good guys, good teammates."

Penn remains in mix for spot in rotation

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Thanks to history lessons from his father, Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad knows all about the brief but impressive baseball career of Brian Doyle.

Late in the 1978 season — eight years before Volstad was born — the New York Yankees called up Doyle from the minors to replace injured second baseman Willie Randolph.

After hitting .192 in 39 regular-season games, Doyle — the Bombers' No. 8 hitter — batted a blistering .438 in the World Series, helping the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

He played parts of three more seasons before retiring in 1981 and, eventually, starting a sports agency.

That's what Volstad knew about his new agent when Doyle started representing him in 2005, after the Marlins drafted him with their first pick. But one day last fall, Volstad learned something else about Doyle, a lesson he hopes will help the club.

"He used to room with Catfish Hunter on the Yankees,' Volstad said, referring to the Hall of Fame pitcher, "so they used to talk all the time. Being a hitter, he always wanted to get in the pitcher's mind."

One major topic was Hunter's slider.

Doyle, knowing that Volstad was eager to improve on his disappointing 2009 season, suggested that the right-hander give the slider a try.

In October, they went to a baseball field in Fort Lauderdale and Doyle showed him the grip he had learned years ago from Hunter.

Volstad said he "fiddled" with it in the off-season and started throwing sliders to hitters for the first time in bullpen sessions last month. So far this spring he has a 7.20 ERA in two appearances while experimenting with his new pitch, which he hopes to throw with confidence by opening day.

Volstad, 23, isn't counting on the slider as his cure-all — he also is trying to refine his best pitch, the sinking fastball. But he is hoping the slider will at least help him avoid a repeat of '09, when he was 9-13 with a 5.21 ERA.

As a rookie in 2008, Volstad relied on a devastating sinker and had an impressive record of 6-4 with a 2.88 ERA. He allowed just three home runs in 15 games.

Last season, Volstad — who is 6-foot-8 — was unable to regain the same consistency and mechanics, and as a result his sinker didn't have the same movement.

That problem cost him, as he allowed a staff-high 29 home runs in 29 starts. He lost confidence and was demoted to Class AAA New Orleans on Aug. 28 before returning in September to pitch in relief.

"I'm a believer that nobody learns from success,' said manager Fredi Gonzalez. "I think last year was a big learning experience for him, whether he was trying to do too much on the mound and maybe he didn't realize, 'Hey, wait a second. I'm pretty good at what I'm doing' and go on.'

Volstad has been told by observers that he was tipping pitches last year. But he said the key to regaining his rookie form is a refined delivery and lower arm slot, which he hopes will produce the desired movement on his sinker.

Adding a slider, he said, also will help make his sinker more effective.

"Having that a slider come in on the same plane as a fastball and then go the other way I think will really help,' he said. "Guys will start cheating on the ball. They'll see it coming in and think it's going to sink and then they'll cheat and hopefully roll it off the end of the bat or swing and miss.'

The Marlins certainly aren't ready to give up on their top pick from 2005. During off-season meetings, the baseball operations staff compared Volstad to St. Louis' Adam Wainwright, another tall (6-foot-7) right-hander. Wainright, 28, has been a big-league starter for only three seasons but was a Cy Young contender last year at 19-8.

"We can only hope that happens with Chris, but I think that's the kind of talent we're talking about,' said Larry Beinfest, Marlins president of baseball operations.

Florida Marlins' Chris Volstad learns a new pitch from his agent, former Yankee Brian Doyle

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

We'll have a "B" game tomorrow against the Mets at 10 am in Jupiter. I'm assuming VandenHurk will start that game since it's his day to pitch and Anibal is pitching the regular game at 1.

Volstad will start on Monday against the Twins.

[Chewford]

It's because the Mets are a "B" team.

I see what they did there.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Among the benefits of a Spring Training "B" game is the ability to manipulate the rules. If the teams want to play seven innings instead of nine, they can do that. If they feel the need to end an inning before three outs are made, they can do that, too.

Begrudgingly, at least.

Such was the case Saturday morning in Sarasota, when Marlins lefty Sean West issued seven -- yes, seven -- walks in a performance that may have severely dampened his bid to win the fifth starter's job. Though West technically pitched three innings against the Orioles, he recorded only five outs in total.

The Marlins requested to put an end to the first inning after West walked in a run. Then they did the same in the third inning after he walked the bases loaded.

"He had issues not throwing the ball over the plate," manager Fredi Gonzalez said, noting that the team would work with West this week "to get him right."

To win the fifth starter's job, West needs an extremely clean and efficient spring. But he was neither clean nor efficient Saturday, throwing just 24 of his 60 pitches for strikes and letting out a yelp of frustration as he walked off the mound. West threw first-pitch balls to 10 of the 13 batters he faced.

Though he has thrown just two Grapefruit League innings, West has also splashed three walks onto that stat line. Hardly inspiring numbers for a guy aiming to make the team.

"I don't know if it's a mechanics thing," Gonzalez said. "Maybe he just hasn't pitched enough. You saw some good pitches coming out of his hand."

Then there was Andrew Miller, also fighting for a job. Miller issued three walks of his own -- not to mention three runs, including a two-run homer to B.J. Upton -- in three innings against the Rays in Port Charlotte.

Though Miller started off strong, inducing a double play in the fifth inning and striking out Evan Longoria, he issued two of his three walks in the seventh.

"But he got himself out of that jam," Gonzalez said. "So overall, a good day I think."

Though there are technically five pitchers competing for three open spots in the Marlins' rotation, Miller and West now have some serious ground to make up in the race.

Miller, West struggling on mound

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

I think we can get some clues about the rotation from how Fredi is setting up the pitchers. Anibal has been getting special treatment and has started in all 3 of his appearances this spring.

Kris Harvey started the "B" game today instead of VandenHurk and Volstad is pitching tomorrow against the Twins so VandenHurk is getting pushed back closer to that 5th starter spot.

It will be interesting to see who pitches the second split squad game on Tuesday. JJ will pitch one of the games so that leaves VandenHurk or Penn to start the other. My money is on VandenHurk since Fredi said that he wants to get him a start. It also pushes him closer to West and Miller.

It still sounds like the beat writers are correct in that Sanchez and Volstad are the favorites. Everyone else other than JJ and Nolasco are having their starts shifted around.