Spring Training Post Game Discussions

[Miamarlin21]

Damn, I sure hope the Marlins don't put a ban on twitter.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

FYI flamarlins, today's game is on tv and Dominguez is wearing batting gloves.

[Miamarlin21]

Thanks Mibs

[Party]

Shawn Hill looked decent today. High 80s fastball, decent change-up and breaking stuff. Could be a nice guy to have in the bullpen as a longman.

[Bobbob1313]

From the little i was able to watch, Ricky was really rusty, which is to be totally expected.

[Party]

Yeah, the few times he was able to get two strikes on a hitter he couldn't put them away. His breaking stuff was all over the place. The Gnats hitters were fouling off the misplaced breaking balls. Velocity was in the high 80s.

[Bobbob1313]

Probably can't get a good grip on the ball yet with the thumb. That's gotta be the expectation.

[Swifty]

If he can't yet grip the ball, he shouldn't be out there pitching.

Rust is to be expected, but the team-wide lack of results is beginning to grow concerning.

[Bobbob1313]

If he can't yet grip the ball, he shouldn't be out there pitching.

If the thumb is ok enough that he's not going to hurt himself, I don't see the issue with him facing live batters and just getting some game time in to stretch the arm out. If all it's doing is making him miss his spots in ST, I'm ok with that. The concern would only be in re aggravating it, but since it was a bruise (if I remember correctly,) I don't think that's a huge concern. Getting innings is important right now for him to be ready for opening day. Whether he does that in simulated games or in a meaningless ST game is not an issue.

Rust is to be expected, but the team-wide lack of results is beginning to grow concerning.

When Josh Kroeger, Bryan Petersen, Dewayne Wise, and Scott Cousins are leading your team in ABs, you can't be concerned about any of the results.

JJ has been bad, as has Volstad, and Anibal and Vazuez have both been good enough. Ricky had a bad start in his debut, which is totally unconcerning.

Everyday players are barely playing at this point. There's literally nothing that could be concerning right now that is not injury related.

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

JJ has been bad, as has Volstad, and Anibal and Vazuez have both been good enough. Ricky had a bad start in his debut, which is totally unconcerning.

Everyday players are barely playing at this point. There's literally nothing that could be concerning right now that is not injury related.

On this note;

Ricky Nolasco is set to make his first start of the spring since injuring his right thumb after slipping and falling during conditioning drills in Miami in early February. The Marlins, losers of five straight, would obviously love to see Nolasco do well for a couple reasons. First off, they want to make sure they're No. 2 starter remains on path to start the season in Game 2 versus the Mets.

The other reason? Outside of Javi Vazquez, the team's projected starting rotation hasn't exactly gotten off to a great start. Ace Josh Johnson got lit up by the Red Sox Saturday and is 0-2 with 10.00 ERA in three starts. Chris Volstad didn't get a lot of defensive help in his last start (the Marlins made five errors versus the Mets), but he's 1-2 with a 7.88 ERA in three spring starts. And Anibal Sanchez (2-0, 4.15 ERA) took a hard line drive off his right shin in his last start Thursday.

Health issues aside, should we chalk up the struggles to guys simply working on pitches during the first two weeks of meaningless spring training games? Or, is there a real cause for concern when you add up the injuries and the struggles?

"I have no concerns about the starting pitchers," manager Edwin Rodriguez said Sunday morning, about three hours before the first scheduled pitch against the Nationals at 1:05 p.m.

"I saw [Nolasco] throwing a live BP. He's ready to go. JJ, there's no concern. Every time he goes out there, he knows what he's doing. Everything he does is for a purpose. He was working on his change up yesterday and before that he was working with something in his last outing. Javi is going to be fine. Anibal Sanchez is no concern. And I like what I have seen with Volstad. I know it was a tough one in [Port] St. Lucie against the Mets, but I think he just made one bad pitch. Other than that, it was the defense."

So what has Rodriguez been looking for and seen that's keeping him at ease?

"First is the command of the secondary pitches. If they throw that changeup for strikes, that breaking ball for strikes you know that's a very good sign, especially this early in spring training," he said. "Then, it's the tempo of the game. Sometimes, if guys don't feel good or they don't have the confidence in their pitches, they will kind of slow down their tempo. But if they're working [fast], they're on. That's a good sign too."

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_...#ixzz1GWWOQ5JT

Again, you can't read anything into spring training stats.

[Party]

If there is anything to be concerned it's the guys vying for the 4th outfield spot being given every opportunity and absolutely bombing.

OBP/SLG/AVG

Wise .313 .393 .214
Peterson .313 .276 .241
Cousins .194 .258 .194
Kroeger .233 .185 .148

All four leading the team in ABs.

[Bobbob1313]

I wouldn't be totally surprised if they went with Baker, Helms, Hayes/Davis, Murphy, Bonifacio as the bench and just eschewed a traditional 4th OFer, since they've been comfortable with Bonifacio in CF and Murphy can play 3 IF positions.

Baker is awesome, but keeping him and Helms on the bench kind of cripples us.

[Jay]

Maybe they can move Helms to backup bench coach?

[jOOj]

I don't think the team would keep Bake off the roster and Donnie has totally proven himself by recovering from that injury. They talked about it today that he wasn't expected to be ready for opening day yet showed up on the first day of ST like nothing. I'll be shocked if Bobbbobbob's projected bench is not what we go with.

[Bobbob1313]

Of course, it's important to note that Donnie's power probably won't be back fully for a while. He might not be a great option.