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Speaker 1: Here we go, the official show on the Fish Stripes

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Speaker 1: podcast channel. I'm Eli Sussman, Managing editor of Fish Stripes,

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Speaker 1: jump starting a brand new week of Miami Marlins coverage.

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Speaker 1: The show presented by Symbol, the Stock Market for Sports.

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Speaker 1: You'll hear plenty more about them later on in the

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Speaker 1: show as a big busy week coming up ahead, seven

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Speaker 1: games in seven days, and even before that, of course,

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Speaker 1: we'll be reviewing what happens this past weekends the debut

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Speaker 1: of these Cuban Sugar Kings uniforms, and the Marlins took

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Speaker 1: two out of three against the Mets, a couple very

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Speaker 1: tightly contested games, and then a nice sigh of relief

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Speaker 1: on Sunday as they finally played their best baseball in

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Speaker 1: a little while to take that series from the Mets

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Speaker 1: and creep even closer in the tightly contested National League East.

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Speaker 1: A big focus of this episode later on will be

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Speaker 1: about the catching situation of the Marlins. We knew this

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Speaker 1: was going to be a weakness of the team heading

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Speaker 1: into the season, and it has proven to be exactly that.

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Speaker 1: Jorge Alfaro potentially we'll be returning from the injured list

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Speaker 1: on Monday, right as you're listening to this episode, so

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Speaker 1: we'll be reviewing exactly what kind of impact to expect

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Speaker 1: from Alfarro, how long the leash is going to be

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Speaker 1: for him to bounce back to his twenty nineteen form,

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Speaker 1: really his twenty eighteen form pre trade, and where the

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Speaker 1: Marlins go from there, because as I just said, this

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Speaker 1: is a tightly contested division. The Marlins are still alive

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Speaker 1: and well, and when they have this one obvious weakness

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Speaker 1: on the roster, there's only so much longer that they

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Speaker 1: can go without addressing it externally. If these internal options

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Speaker 1: continue to fall short. And this being a Monday, coming

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Speaker 1: off a full slate of games from the Marlins and

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Speaker 1: all the minor league affiliates, I'll be spotlighting my prospecs

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Speaker 1: of the week in the Marlins organization. So going back

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Speaker 1: to the major league level, these past three games at

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Speaker 1: Lone Depot Park against the Mets, debuting these legacy red

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Speaker 1: Cuban Sugar Kings uniforms that are so popular and seeing

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Speaker 1: them in action, they lived up to all of the hype.

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Speaker 1: That first game was one of the more memorable games

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Speaker 1: of the year, but not in a good way.

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Speaker 2: If you're the Marlins.

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Speaker 1: The Mets came to town technically in first place, but

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Speaker 1: the players that put them in that position for the

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Speaker 1: most part, were not available. For as much as Marlins

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Speaker 1: fans have seen some critical injuries to the team early

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Speaker 1: on in this season, it's really nothing compared to what

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Speaker 1: the Mets are dealing with right now. Their roster is

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Speaker 1: totally decimated at the moment, and they charted out a

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Speaker 1: lineup of a couple guys that you probably had never

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Speaker 1: even heard of in their starting lineup throughout this series,

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Speaker 1: beginning on Friday, there was no reason to expect a

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Speaker 1: high scoring game the final in this one Mets six,

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Speaker 1: Marlins five, with the aid, of course, of those extra

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Speaker 1: ending rules, and it even took them until the twelve

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Speaker 1: thenning they did to get into the third extra ending

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Speaker 1: before either team even scored.

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Speaker 2: A frustrating game to watch.

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Speaker 1: Marlins calling this one quote unquote bullpen game. It was

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Speaker 1: not exactly a well kept secret that Jordan Holloway was

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Speaker 1: going to be handling the bulk of this innings, as

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Speaker 1: he had a couple previous turns of the rotation a

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Speaker 1: big test for him, and there was some optimism, I

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Speaker 1: would say list on my part going against a short

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Speaker 1: handed Mets lineup, and so by the time they got

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Speaker 1: the ball to Holloway coming out of the bullpen, they

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Speaker 1: were already down to nothing. A couple runs scored against

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Speaker 1: John Curtis who opened up the game, and Halloway looked

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Speaker 1: fine in this first ending of work, and then he

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Speaker 1: did not come back. It turns out that he suffered

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Speaker 1: a groin injury. He has since been placed on the IL,

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Speaker 1: A big bummer for him knowing just how much he

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Speaker 1: had to prove in this opportunity, and now a lot

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Speaker 1: of questions as to how exactly he'll fit on this

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Speaker 1: major league roster, if at all on the major league

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Speaker 1: roster once he fully recovers from the injury. As a

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Speaker 1: result of him going out with that groin injury, they

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Speaker 1: emptied the bullpen, and I do mean emptied it.

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Speaker 2: This is the first.

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Speaker 1: Time all year where the Marlins went through everybody, every

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Speaker 1: available pitcher that they had. Ten guys used in this

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Speaker 1: game to help the Marlins get through it.

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Speaker 2: And do I have that right one?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't even believe it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Really, ten pitchers that they had in this extra long

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Speaker 1: pitching staff to that were available, and for the most part,

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Speaker 1: a lot of them got the job done. Curtis didn't,

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Speaker 1: but he was hurt by some defense. Zach Popp finally

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Speaker 1: lost his scoreless streak that had been dating back for

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Speaker 1: more than a full month. I think we all needed

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Speaker 1: to still be pretty pleased with what the rookie has

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Speaker 1: given them this season, but allowed to run here and

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Speaker 1: from there. The Marlins did come back in the later

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Speaker 1: endings to tie it up in the seventh. That was

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Speaker 1: Garrett Cooper. He was the big star of this weekend,

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Speaker 1: probably the most impactful player.

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Speaker 2: A home run.

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Speaker 1: Against Miguel Castro so not a cheapie, that's a tough

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Speaker 1: caliber of competition to a home run off of that

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Speaker 1: tied it up at three in the seventh and it

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Speaker 1: stayed that way all the way into the twelfth inning.

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Speaker 1: There was that Jonathan vr based running gaff and I

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Speaker 1: guess it should be mentioned that this game was memorable

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Speaker 1: because of what we're hearing on the TV from Bally

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Speaker 1: Sports Florida. Tommy Huddon on the call, his first game

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Speaker 1: as a in the booth as a color commentator in years.

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Speaker 1: If you want to hear more of some of Tommy's

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Speaker 1: comments during that show. We actually cut it together and

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Speaker 1: put it on our YouTube page. Fish stripskull ahead and

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Speaker 1: subscribe to us over there to get that video. But

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Speaker 1: ultimately the Marlins don't get that win for him because

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Speaker 1: with all the available pitchers used, Adam Simber had to

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Speaker 1: work a second ending of work into the twelfth and

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Speaker 1: he gets beat by a couple of rookies in the

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Speaker 1: Mets lineup of Jeneski Fargas and Khalil Lee, guys that

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Speaker 1: you've probably never heard of until his game, and they

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Speaker 1: combined to driving three runs on the top of that ending.

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Speaker 1: The Marlins make it interesting in the bottom of the twelfth,

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Speaker 1: but ultimately Adam Duval gets out, representing the tying run

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Speaker 1: in the bottom of that ending. On Saturday, more so

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Speaker 1: than anything, the spotlight was on Pablo Lopez. They needed

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Speaker 1: length out of Pablo in quality. He delivered again facing

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Speaker 1: a very depleted Mets lineup that is led by Jonathan Vr,

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Speaker 1: Francisco Lindor, and a whole lot of nobody's to be

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Speaker 1: honest with you, and Pablo did the job. Seven innings

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Speaker 1: only allows four hits, one walk, eight strikeouts for Pablo,

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Speaker 1: and that lowers his era on the season down to

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Speaker 1: two point seventy three so it was great. As is

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Speaker 1: typical when Papolo takes the mound, run support is always

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Speaker 1: very tough to come by, almost at a comical level

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Speaker 1: that he still only has one win on the entire

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Speaker 1: season despite being one of the better pitchers in the

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Speaker 1: National League. So the Marlins do finally give him one

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Speaker 1: run of support in the bottom of the seventh. I

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Speaker 1: think that was that Corey Dickerson go ahead sacrifice fly

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Speaker 1: that they finally break through once Mets go to their bullpen.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this was a whole bullpen game for the Mets,

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Speaker 1: and it was frustrating enough that the Marlins didn't break

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Speaker 1: through until the seventh, but they get that run just

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Speaker 1: trying to hold it for the final two. In the eighth,

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Speaker 1: Anthony Bass setting up Jimmy Garcia that he has been

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Speaker 1: pitching a lot better lately. I didn't totally blame this

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Speaker 1: decision to bring Bass in here and just uncharacteristic of

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Speaker 1: what we've seen from Bass lately. I mean, sometimes this

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Speaker 1: year he's been hit hard when he leaves the ball

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Speaker 1: up in the zone, but in this case, he just

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Speaker 1: could not find the zone in the first place.

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Speaker 2: Back to back walks in.

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Speaker 1: This one to get the team into trouble in that

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Speaker 1: eighth inning, maddingly didn't even trust him to get through it.

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Speaker 1: He brought in Richard Bleier, who him himself has been

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Speaker 1: great lately, just like bass piss pitching on the second

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Speaker 1: consecutive day here, just looking for that final out to

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Speaker 1: escape the inning, he makes such a clutch pitch to

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Speaker 1: Dominic Smith that should have been called strike three, should

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Speaker 1: have been out number three to escape the jam with

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Speaker 1: that lead intact hand home played ump Alfonso Marquez he

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Speaker 1: saw it differently, a borderline call, and honestly wasn't even borderline.

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Speaker 2: It was in the zone.

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Speaker 1: But it goes against the Marlins, though, and Blier has

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Speaker 1: to make one extra pitch. Smith delivers that game tying hit.

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Speaker 1: Very frustrating moment, And as I tweeted out at the

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Speaker 1: Fishtripe's account, in that moment, if the Marlins did not

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Speaker 1: pull out that win, and if they somehow lost the

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Speaker 1: series to the short handed Mets team right there because

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Speaker 1: of that controversy and because of the lack of offense,

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Speaker 1: that it would have been a big crisis for the

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Speaker 1: team overall. And it just shows you how delicate this

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Speaker 1: season is and the kind of small margins that make

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Speaker 1: the difference. The Marlins do wind up winning this game.

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Speaker 1: Jimmy pitches a scoreless top of the ninth, and then

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Speaker 1: in the bottom Garrett Cooper delivers again hey off pitch.

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Speaker 1: Coming a three hit game for Garrett Cooper, this home

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Speaker 1: run pulverized against Drew Smith, the Mets reliever. Great celebration

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Speaker 1: coming all the way around and Cooper ever since, it's

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Speaker 1: been this past week and a half or so where

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Speaker 1: he has been on the shortlist of the best hitters

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Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. It's as simple as that. This

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Speaker 1: was his third straight game with a home run and

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Speaker 1: it was at a time a seven game hitting streak.

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Speaker 1: He would extend it to eighth straight on Sunday. It's

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Speaker 1: been huge. It's been huge. And Brian Anderson on a

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Speaker 1: similar spot. I was never quite as worried about Ba

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Speaker 1: as I was about Cooper at sometimes earlier this year,

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Speaker 1: but kind of right on q exact same timeline. Brian

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Speaker 1: Anderson has caught fire as well. He had three hits

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Speaker 1: in this game. He is He was the guy on

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Speaker 1: base when Cooper hit that home run to decide the game.

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Speaker 1: So great to have those guys heating up. Although Unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: the top of the lineup has cooled down, which is

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Speaker 1: why this offense overall continues to be just very mediocre. Overall,

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Speaker 1: they just can't seem to all click at the same time.

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Speaker 1: But nonetheless, it's good to have at least a couple

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Speaker 1: hitters that you can really rely on at the moment.

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Speaker 1: Then the rubber match Sunday's series finale, we had suspected

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Speaker 1: that Jordan Yamamoto would get the start old friends, trying

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Speaker 1: to exact revenge on the team that traded him away

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Speaker 1: just a couple of months ago, And true enough, he

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Speaker 1: does get the start, and he wasn't. It was hard

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Speaker 1: to judge his outing. For Yamamoto, I honestly didn't think

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Speaker 1: he looked that terrible. I mean, he didn't allow an

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Speaker 1: extra base hit. The entire Mets pitching staff on Sunday

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Speaker 1: allowed zero extra base hits, but all five runs that

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Speaker 1: the Miami scored was in that second ending, So there's

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Speaker 1: a little good luck that happened there, no doubt about it.

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Speaker 1: Some good sequencing of the Marlins hits to get that

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Speaker 1: run across without the benefit of hitting for any power whatsoever.

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Speaker 1: Yamamoto kind of brought some of this trouble on himself.

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Speaker 1: He was involved in two defensive plays in that second

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Speaker 1: inning that he a better defensive pitcher helps his own

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Speaker 1: cause a little better than that. It was really some

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Speaker 1: tough luck and some just frankly, some poor fundamentals on

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Speaker 1: his part to allow that big rally to happen.

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Speaker 2: He ended up throwing thirty eight pitches in that ending.

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Speaker 1: So his final line four innings pitched, six hits, loud,

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Speaker 1: five runs for them, earned two walks, two strikeouts. He

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Speaker 1: pitched better than that would signify. I imagine he'll get

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Speaker 1: some other starting opportunities for the Mets as this season

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Speaker 1: goes on. But yeah, overall, the Marlins get those runs there,

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Speaker 1: and that's all they needed. With Cody Potit on the

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Speaker 1: mounds making his third major league start, and he did

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Speaker 1: a great follow up to what Pablo did the night before.

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Speaker 1: Almost identical numbers for Poteit go seven score setting, three hits, allowed,

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Speaker 1: four strikeouts and no walks. It needs to be emphasized

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Speaker 1: again just facing a terrible Mets lineup that unfortunately has

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Speaker 1: had to scramble to put things together without Pete Alonso,

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Speaker 1: without Michael Confordo, without Brandon Nimo and now I'm sure

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Speaker 1: there's others that are slipping my mind. Yeah, I mean,

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Speaker 1: just so many key players JD.

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Speaker 2: Davis.

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Speaker 1: These are guys that hit for power, that they get

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Speaker 1: on base, and they've been replaced by the next man

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Speaker 1: up from TRIPLEA, from picked up the scrap heap that

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Speaker 1: this was not a high quality of competition. I've spoken

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Speaker 1: about Potit on one of last week's episodes. Why I'm

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Speaker 1: so encouraged by him. He is legit, and it sort

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Speaker 1: of came abruptly. This was not the guy he was

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Speaker 1: in the minor leagues. He put in that work during

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Speaker 1: the pandemic year, and his fastball velocity has ticked up.

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Speaker 1: His change up and his curveball commands are great.

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Speaker 2: He spots those on the corners of the zone.

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Speaker 1: He has all the makings of a legitimate major league

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Speaker 1: starting pitcher. But I want to caution us not to

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Speaker 1: get too excited until seeing exactly what he does his

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Speaker 1: upcoming start against the Red Sox in Boston. That'll be

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Speaker 1: by far the best and healthiest lineup that he's gone against,

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Speaker 1: and of course, more importantly, later in the year, once

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Speaker 1: he faces teams for a second time or potentially a

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Speaker 1: third time, that that's always a very big test. Overall,

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Speaker 1: three starts for him so far in the major leagues,

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Speaker 1: and he has allowed just two runs total. It is

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Speaker 1: if it feels a little bit familiar, that's because it

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Speaker 1: is watching Marlin's games. They had a rookie to very

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Speaker 1: similar thing in his first major league starts back in

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Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. That rookie was Jordan yama Moto. It's crazy

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Speaker 1: how it all links up like that. The numbers eerily

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Speaker 1: similar through three starts. Potit does a few things that

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Speaker 1: you like better than yama Moto, but he also has

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Speaker 1: some limitations as well. So I think the jury is

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Speaker 1: still very much out on exactly what to expect from Pote,

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Speaker 1: But for the moment, he does have a very firm

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Speaker 1: grasp on one of those back and rotation spots, especially

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Speaker 1: now that Holloway is injured for the near term. So

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Speaker 1: in this game, as I said, no Marlins extra base hits.

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Speaker 1: In fact, no balls were really anywhere close to being

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Speaker 1: home runs. Sandy leone of all people, had the farthest

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Speaker 1: hit for any Marlins batter in this game three hundred

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Speaker 1: and forty two feet, and Corey Dickerson had the second

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Speaker 1: longest at three hundred and thirty two feet, And I

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Speaker 1: bring that up just because those guys, I have only

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Speaker 1: one home run apiece all year. So those are two

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Speaker 1: guys that you never really have any expectations of them

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Speaker 1: hitting for power, and yet they're the only ones that

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Speaker 1: hit long play balls of any authority. It was good

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Speaker 1: to see Haitius Aguilar get a hit in this game.

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Speaker 1: He was in the midst of I believe, a one

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Speaker 1: for twenty eight skid, but he's had a few very

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Speaker 1: ferocious line drives lately. Only one of them fell for

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Speaker 1: a hit, but overall, seeing several of those back to

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Speaker 1: back to back during this weekends, it gives you hope

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Speaker 1: that he will break out of this funk relatively soon.

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Speaker 1: Garrett Cooper extended his hitting streak. The infield defense in

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Speaker 1: this game was great. That's one thing to keep in

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Speaker 1: mind when looking at Potite's final line. He was allowing

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Speaker 1: a lot of balls in play and his teammates were

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Speaker 1: picking him up. That infield defense has been a strength

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Speaker 1: of this team throughout the year, and I expect that

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Speaker 1: to continue. And finally, I can't record any podcast with

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Speaker 1: at least shouting out Anthony Bender, so he's the one

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Speaker 1: that finished this game off with a four run lead.

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Speaker 1: He continues to be incredible, the armside run that he

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Speaker 1: gets on that fastball and his ability to spot his

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Speaker 1: slider and get chases out of the zone with that pitch.

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Speaker 1: It's no surprise to me that he still has a

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Speaker 1: flawless zero point zero zero earned run average this deep

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Speaker 1: into the year. I mean, the sample size is growing.

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Speaker 1: He's been up for almost a month at this point

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Speaker 1: and showing no signs of slowing down. Cuban Heritage Night

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Speaker 1: was on Saturday, very fitting to align with these City

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Speaker 1: Connect uniforms that they wore, and at that time, it's

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Speaker 1: set a record for their largest home crowd that they've

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Speaker 1: had this sea nearly I think slightly over seventy five

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Speaker 1: hundred fans in attendance. We had our photographer Denise Sosa

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Speaker 1: on hands. You could see some of his photos from

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Speaker 1: that game on our website fish Stripes dot com. We'll

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Speaker 1: put it even in this podcast article, so you could

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Speaker 1: behold some of the sights of that beautiful contest, both

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Speaker 1: on the field and in the stands. Then on Sunday

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Speaker 1: they kind of won up that even without any special giveaway.

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Speaker 1: They didn't have the Alfaro bobblehead giveaway.

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Speaker 2: Like they did on Saturday.

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Speaker 1: They didn't have a special Heritage Night tie in, and

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Speaker 1: yet attendance was nearly eight thousand on Sunday. According to

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Speaker 1: Lone Deep Up Park. They were completely at capacity under

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Speaker 1: the current limitations. So great to see that turn out

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Speaker 1: both from Marlins fans and from Mets fans. You need

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Speaker 1: to give the Mets a lot of credit for being

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Speaker 1: the big draw in this situation, and they saw that

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Speaker 1: Marlins get a rare easy win there on Sunday, improving

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Speaker 1: to twenty two and twenty four here forty six games

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Speaker 1: into this season. We take a break to remind you

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Speaker 1: that this is a partnership between Fish Stripes and Symbol,

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Speaker 1: The final thing to touch on from this previous week

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Speaker 1: is my Marlin's Minor League Players of the Week Marlin's

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Speaker 1: Prospects of the Week. I need to decide exactly what

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Speaker 1: to headline this segment. Last week we gave it to

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Speaker 1: Zach mccambley and Federico Palanco, and this week it's all

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Speaker 1: in Pensacola. Beginning with our hitter of the week is

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Speaker 1: Payden Verdict the third round draft pick of the Marlins

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Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, someone who very immediately stepped into pro

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Speaker 1: ball and began producing at a higher level than anybody

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Speaker 1: could hope for. He got off to a terrible start

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Speaker 1: to twenty twenty one season. The Marlins gave him an

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Speaker 1: aggressive assignment up to Double A Jack Double A Pensacola

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Speaker 1: after only playing at low A level when we last

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Speaker 1: saw him in the minor leagues. So he got off

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Speaker 1: to a slow start, striking out all the time, and

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Speaker 1: during this past week he totally flipped the switch a

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Speaker 1: slash line of three twenty three forty six eight eighty

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Speaker 1: slugging eight eighty. That's an ops of twelve twenty six

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Speaker 1: during this past week, hitting three home runs. And maybe

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Speaker 1: my favorite detail about his performance is he played four

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Speaker 1: games in center field, all them starting in that position.

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Speaker 1: Opening the season, Pensacola had Victor Victor Mesa Pencilton as

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Speaker 1: a center fielder. He's been out with an ankle injury

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Speaker 1: for more than a week now, and that's meant that

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Speaker 1: they are basically filling it by committee, and primarily at

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Speaker 1: least his past week, it's been paid in verdickt the

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Speaker 1: Pensacola Blue while who as they win five out of

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Speaker 1: six games during this past week in large part due

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Speaker 1: to Burdick and what he's doing at the top of

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Speaker 1: that lineup and how he's helping them hold it toge defensively.

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Speaker 1: An honorable mention has to go to Griffin Conine, son

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Speaker 1: of Jeff of course who over the last two weeks combined,

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Speaker 1: I think he might have to say that he during

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Speaker 1: that span has been the most oppressive position player in

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Speaker 1: the system. So kind of tough luck for him, just

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Speaker 1: based on how the calendar cuts it off. But during

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Speaker 1: this past week he also homered I think three times

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Speaker 1: as well, and including one on Sunday. He is really

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Speaker 1: into his own a lot of similarities I would say

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Speaker 1: to Peyton Burdick in terms of offensively, where he'll draw

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Speaker 1: his walks, he'll hit for power, but he's also prone

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Speaker 1: to strikeouts as well.

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Speaker 2: Most of the.

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Speaker 1: Games this week, Griffin Conine played in the field but

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Speaker 1: also used a designated hitter at times. A good week

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Speaker 1: for Beloit in the same way that it was for Pensacola.

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Speaker 1: They end up winning their series to get over the

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Speaker 1: five hundred mark on the pitching side, So this one

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Speaker 1: was interesting because the first name that came to mind

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Speaker 1: on the minor league side had to be Elia Hernandez.

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Speaker 1: He made two starts this week, on Tuesday and then

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Speaker 1: on Sunday for Triple A Jacksonville. As you know, he

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Speaker 1: is rehabbing from his arm injury biceps injury that has

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Speaker 1: kept him out for at this point, I mean, geez,

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Speaker 1: seven weeks. And he was nearly perfect in his first

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Speaker 1: rehab outing but only went three innings. And then here

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Speaker 1: on Sunday he was nearly perfect again and went four

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Speaker 1: and two thirds before getting stopped by his pitch count

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Speaker 1: limit cut off at fifty five pitches. In those two

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Speaker 1: starts combined, he has not issued a single walk, I

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Speaker 1: don't think. And he's just been incredible racking up the strikeouts,

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Speaker 1: particularly on Sunday. Did it a lot with his fastball,

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Speaker 1: even though his curveball is slider excuse me, is his

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Speaker 1: signature pitch, his usual.

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Speaker 2: Put away pitch.

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Speaker 1: He did it in a variety of ways on Sunday

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Speaker 1: against Triple A hitters. These aren't just any rehab hitters

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Speaker 1: in the minor league. This is the highest level, facing

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Speaker 1: a lot of composition that is honestly about the same

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Speaker 1: age as Elias or Hernandez and dominant results in both

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Speaker 1: of those outings. The real selection here for Pitcher of

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Speaker 1: the Week would be Max Meyer, who of course is

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Speaker 1: the top draft pick from the twenty twenty Marlins class,

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Speaker 1: and he started his pro career on a great note

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Speaker 1: a couple weeks ago, then a big step back in

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Speaker 1: his second outing, and now I rebounds to what was

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Speaker 1: arguably his best performance so far as a pro. Racks

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Speaker 1: up nine strikeouts and five and two thirds innings five

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Speaker 1: and two thirds scoreless. Nearly thirty five percent of his

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Speaker 1: pitches were called strikes or whiffs. That's that CSW rate

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Speaker 1: that I love to reference increasingly as we move forward.

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Speaker 1: Eighty four pitches, relatively efficient and by far the most

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Speaker 1: pitches that he's been able to throw in an outing

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Speaker 1: so far. So it's great to see him getting stretched

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Speaker 1: out to something resembling a normal starter's workload. He's on

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Speaker 1: a pretty close watch this year, as you would expect,

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Speaker 1: being limited to one start per week under all circumstances.

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Speaker 1: So we'll have this him in presumably this upcoming Wednesday

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Speaker 1: for Pensacola. So a great step for Max Meyer, as

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Speaker 1: you would expect, got amazing results off of his slider, which,

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Speaker 1: with all due respect to eliez er Hernandez Meyer might

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Speaker 1: have an even nastier putaway pitch with that slider that

435
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,440
Speaker 1: he can throw to both lefties antieties.

436
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,320
Speaker 2: So he looked great in this one. We've got a.

437
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,960
Speaker 1: Good view of it at Blue Wahu's stadium. So Max

438
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 1: Meyer gets back on track, and congrats also to Paidon

439
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,399
Speaker 1: Verdict on getting his season back on track as well.

440
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,639
Speaker 1: We finish off this episode with this broad look at

441
00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,560
Speaker 1: the Marlins catcher situation. Now is the perfect time because

442
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,560
Speaker 1: all signs point to Jorge al Farrow being reinstated from

443
00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,919
Speaker 1: the injured list. It's been I think it's been kind

444
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,000
Speaker 1: of under the radar almost how long he's been out.

445
00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 1: It's been a full month that they've been without Jorge

446
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,200
Speaker 1: Alfaro slightly more than that. He did have a small setback,

447
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 1: originally a hamstring injury, and then he was feeling some

448
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,600
Speaker 1: soreness on his left side last week and that really

449
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,160
Speaker 1: pushed him back almost an entire week. The original timeline

450
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,760
Speaker 1: was for him to have already rejoined the team for

451
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,159
Speaker 1: this homestand instead it just seems they'll make it just

452
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:16,600
Speaker 1: in time. For the Phillies series, exploding on Saturday in

453
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,800
Speaker 1: his final game against in TRIAA.

454
00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,280
Speaker 3: Rogers looking at the runner Harrison dancing from second swinging

455
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:28,119
Speaker 3: a towering fly ball by Alfaro deep to left center field,

456
00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:34,680
Speaker 3: heading for the ballpenda that one carries out. The big

457
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:38,480
Speaker 3: Band drives one out, a three run al farall home

458
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,800
Speaker 3: run five innings from those two guys before they went

459
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,200
Speaker 3: to Baltimore. Swinging a high, towering fly ball into right.

460
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,960
Speaker 3: Here's Jarrett back warning track all that one's gone and

461
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:51,679
Speaker 3: the Bear has done it again.

462
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,679
Speaker 1: Two no doubt home runs for Alfaro, one of them pulled,

463
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:58,520
Speaker 1: won them to the opposite field.

464
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,640
Speaker 2: That's the kind of power he has. He has always

465
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:02,000
Speaker 2: had that.

466
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,639
Speaker 1: There's never been any doubt about it. That he has

467
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:09,160
Speaker 1: some of the best raw power of anybody in pro baseball,

468
00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,800
Speaker 1: and probably more than anybody else in the Marlins organization

469
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,879
Speaker 1: at any level. You love that about him, and the

470
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,160
Speaker 1: question is can he tap into that power in major

471
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,399
Speaker 1: league games, because he has not done very much of

472
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: that whatsoever during these the past two years. And it's

473
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,360
Speaker 1: a small sample because missed half of twenty twenty due

474
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,760
Speaker 1: to COVID, and of course had missed nearly all of

475
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,199
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one thus far due to this hamstring injury

476
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,600
Speaker 1: and the setback on top of that. But overall, just

477
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,439
Speaker 1: review since he started twenty twenty, Alfaro hitting two twenty

478
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 1: seven two seventy two three twenty. That's a sixty five

479
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,640
Speaker 1: weighted runs created plus, where one hundred is league average,

480
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:53,840
Speaker 1: thirty five percent below league average. With I guess generously

481
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,400
Speaker 1: you could describe it as ordinary defense, where at times

482
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,760
Speaker 1: he's been kind of a defensive liability over these past

483
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 1: couple of years. Should we expect that moving forward from Alfaro?

484
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,680
Speaker 1: Or should we expect the career norm for Alfaro? Overall

485
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,320
Speaker 1: his career stats hitting two sixty one three fourteen on

486
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 1: base four to ten slugging, that's a ninety three weighted

487
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,440
Speaker 1: runs created plus, which for a catcher is like right

488
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 1: on par with the league average.

489
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 2: And his defense has been good at times.

490
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 1: You already know about his arm, and he's at times

491
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,479
Speaker 1: been really passable as a pitch framer, as someone that

492
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,600
Speaker 1: will always have a little bit of trouble blocking pitches

493
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,400
Speaker 1: because of his size, but he can at least hold

494
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: his own back there. Historically, over this larger sample, what

495
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,399
Speaker 1: Alfaro are the Marlins going to be getting moving forward.

496
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,919
Speaker 1: I think, even though I don't have a whole lot

497
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,720
Speaker 1: of confidence one way or the other, I think we

498
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,800
Speaker 1: can agree that he will be an upgrade over their

499
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,880
Speaker 1: current solutions. This this maybe has flown under the radar

500
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 1: a little bit just how awful Marlins catchers have been

501
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: this season. They are arguably the worst catching unit in baseball,

502
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,200
Speaker 1: more so than anybody else. Going to Baseball reference dot

503
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:13,679
Speaker 1: Com tracking wins above average by individual positions according to

504
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,200
Speaker 1: each team overall, and I mean at some of these

505
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,160
Speaker 1: positions to Marlins have been just fine overall. At third

506
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,400
Speaker 1: base with Brian Anderson's Hodstrak they're up to league average.

507
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,640
Speaker 1: With Hayster Zaguilard first base, they're right around a league

508
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,800
Speaker 1: average in some of the outfield spots. In right field

509
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 1: they're at league average, and centerfield they're above league gaverage.

510
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:35,919
Speaker 2: At catcher they are the worst.

511
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:41,000
Speaker 1: It's the biggest weakness of the team, negative one point

512
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 1: seven wins above average. So that number is so extreme

513
00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: it's actually below replacement level overall production. In all Farrow's absence,

514
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,879
Speaker 1: you know that the tandem has been Chad Wallach and

515
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,159
Speaker 1: Sandy Leone, and their playing time has been relatively evenly split,

516
00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:01,480
Speaker 1: with a slight edge going to Sandy Leone, and the

517
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:05,119
Speaker 1: numbers here are pretty fascinating because, I mean, offensively, my

518
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:09,040
Speaker 1: expectations for Leone were low. He has been consistently one

519
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:11,680
Speaker 1: of the worst hitters in baseball over the last three

520
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:17,840
Speaker 1: plus years, but even by his standards, this is really unsightly.

521
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,679
Speaker 1: Where he is not getting hits, he's not hitting for

522
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 1: any power and mean the strangest thing is he's not

523
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,479
Speaker 1: even drawing walks. The lowest walk rate of his career

524
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,359
Speaker 1: to at this point, I think, just three walks in

525
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,760
Speaker 1: seventy eight plate appearances. His OBP went up a tiny

526
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,080
Speaker 1: bit on Sunday just by being hit by a pitch,

527
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,960
Speaker 1: so that's just some pure luck. He doesn't hit the

528
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: ball over the wall, and both him and Wallach have

529
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 1: a lot of trouble just running.

530
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:45,640
Speaker 2: They are too.

531
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:47,520
Speaker 1: Even by catcher standards, there are a couple of the

532
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,880
Speaker 1: slowest catchers in baseball this year, and that turns a

533
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:53,520
Speaker 1: lot of doubles into singles and makes them limits them

534
00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:56,600
Speaker 1: to going station to station when they're on the bases

535
00:28:57,040 --> 00:28:59,120
Speaker 1: in the rare instances that they actually make it on base,

536
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 1: and it he just doesn't give them any opportunity to

537
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,440
Speaker 1: beat out in field hits. So that's the one to

538
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,080
Speaker 1: mention that you know, al Fara is a big upgrade

539
00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 1: throughout his career. He is a plus runner by any standard,

540
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:14,400
Speaker 1: but especially in terms of catcher. He's elite by catcher

541
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 1: standards in his sprint speed, in his acceleration, and he's

542
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,160
Speaker 1: got a decent amount of aggressiveness too, even while he's

543
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 1: on the basis as Alfara will like even as if

544
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:28,719
Speaker 1: he puts the bat on the ball under any conditions,

545
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 1: then he's someone that will turn more hits than what

546
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 1: you expect. That's why throughout his career he's batting average

547
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 1: on balls and play has been spectacular. It has come

548
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:40,400
Speaker 1: back down to earth a little bit in recent years.

549
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 2: So long story.

550
00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 1: Short, That's why I wouldn't really consider it realistic for

551
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: him to reach his overall career standards as a hitter

552
00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:53,680
Speaker 1: where he's that has that ninety three weighted runs created plus,

553
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 1: just because early in his career he was a true outlier.

554
00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,920
Speaker 1: He was historically the highest batting average on balls and

555
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 1: play of anybody in like the post integration era. It

556
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,400
Speaker 1: was insane. It was unprecedented even for a great athlete.

557
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:11,960
Speaker 1: It just was not sustainable the kind of luck that

558
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 1: he was having on balls and play. On the other hands,

559
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,960
Speaker 1: he does some things that will always lend themselves to

560
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,200
Speaker 1: better than average results in those categories because of how

561
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 1: well he runs and because of how hard he hits

562
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,840
Speaker 1: the ball. He crushes it, even in his limited time.

563
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:30,760
Speaker 1: This year, he had one of the top I think

564
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:34,080
Speaker 1: top three or top five hardest hit balls of any

565
00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:37,440
Speaker 1: Marlins player this year. It's right up there with Jazz Chisholm,

566
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:40,840
Speaker 1: and better than what they get from anybody else on

567
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,480
Speaker 1: this roster. He has that kind of incredible natural strength

568
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,360
Speaker 1: and ability to channel it. Then, made knock on al

569
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,320
Speaker 1: Farrow is that he just does not put the ball

570
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,280
Speaker 1: in play. He does not recognize pitches coming out of

571
00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:57,520
Speaker 1: the hands. He's always been someone that's a high strikeout guy,

572
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,560
Speaker 1: and there's really no way to turn that around unless

573
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:04,240
Speaker 1: he develops this innate ability to recognize pitches all of

574
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 1: a sudden and to be more disciplined. It was just

575
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: a tiny sample, Like I'm really cautioned to refer to

576
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 1: any twenty twenty one stats for Alfaro because we're just

577
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 1: talking about nine games and thirty six played appearances. However,

578
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 1: before that injury, what does stick out is that he

579
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 1: was taking a slightly different played approach and that he

580
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,240
Speaker 1: was being more patient on the first pitch of a

581
00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 1: plate appearance. Now, historically, he's been hyper aggressive from the

582
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,480
Speaker 1: get go, a first pitch swinging rate of in the

583
00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:41,880
Speaker 1: mid forties year after year after year, insane, the swing

584
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 1: at the first pitch nearly half the time, and so

585
00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,840
Speaker 1: far in twenty twenty one, before his injury, he was

586
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,720
Speaker 1: all the way down to thirty point six percent, less

587
00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,360
Speaker 1: than one in three plate appearances where he was offering

588
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:56,240
Speaker 1: at that first pitch. So what does that do for

589
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,160
Speaker 1: you? You know, it buys you time to get a better

590
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 1: pitch to hit. It makes sure that it reflects the

591
00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,160
Speaker 1: fact that he might not be chasing pitches out of

592
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 1: the zone unless he really is confident that they'll be

593
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:10,600
Speaker 1: hitable pitches from the get go.

594
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:11,640
Speaker 2: It's such a small.

595
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,880
Speaker 1: Sample that I don't want to read too far into it,

596
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,360
Speaker 1: but I think it's a good sign from what little

597
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,920
Speaker 1: we did see of him before the injury that he

598
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 1: was willing to work deeper counts at the very least.

599
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:26,120
Speaker 1: I mean, even if you are still striking out. As

600
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,200
Speaker 1: long as you take that first pitch, then you'll give

601
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 1: yourself an opportunity to work deeper counts. And it's just

602
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:35,760
Speaker 1: more valuable to the team if you're making the opposing

603
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:40,480
Speaker 1: starter throw more pitches, if you're letting anybody work deeper

604
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 1: into that count. He buys you time for them to

605
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 1: make a mistake, or it forces the other team to

606
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 1: have to go to the bullpen and make a change,

607
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,680
Speaker 1: even when they don't necessarily want to. So a little

608
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:53,760
Speaker 1: thing like that that stuck out to me about him,

609
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,160
Speaker 1: and the other side of this is just figuring out

610
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:00,520
Speaker 1: how much of an upgrade he represents over what they

611
00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:04,280
Speaker 1: currently have with Leon and Wallock. So I already mentioned

612
00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 1: Leon as a hitter, it's been a disaster even if

613
00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,600
Speaker 1: you had no expectations going into it. And he has

614
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 1: some really intriguing stats in terms of his defense and

615
00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: his intangible ways of working with pitchers, so across the board,

616
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:24,440
Speaker 1: from both Baseball Savant and from Baseball perspectus, they consider

617
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,680
Speaker 1: him one of the worst pitch framers in baseball. I

618
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: think that might surprise you and surprise me, just because

619
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 1: that was something that stuck out to me as a

620
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:36,760
Speaker 1: positive with Sande Leon prior to joining the Marlins, that

621
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,880
Speaker 1: he would steal some strikes in that way. That has

622
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 1: not been the case early on this year. And pitch

623
00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,840
Speaker 1: framing is the kind of stat that you get so

624
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:49,120
Speaker 1: many data points early in the year because you're behind

625
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:51,160
Speaker 1: the plate for an entire game for one hundred and

626
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,880
Speaker 1: fifty two hundred pitches. So we have a pretty big

627
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,600
Speaker 1: sample thousands and thousands of pitches that Leon has caught

628
00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:02,000
Speaker 1: already for the Marlins, and he is among seventy eighty

629
00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,640
Speaker 1: eighty five catchers in the big leagues this year, Leone

630
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 1: is like bottom ten in his pitch framing. He in

631
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:12,160
Speaker 1: terms of the borderline pitches that he is not turning

632
00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:17,239
Speaker 1: into strikes, and so far it doesn't hasn't killed the

633
00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:21,279
Speaker 1: team too much. Only a couple runs approximately that have

634
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 1: been charged against the Marlins because they're not getting into

635
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:28,000
Speaker 1: they're not putting away hitters on those borderline pitches and

636
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 1: they're getting into undesirable counts. So so far it hasn't

637
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,799
Speaker 1: killed the team. But it is worth just mentioning that

638
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,800
Speaker 1: that has been a weakness for Leon and that Alfaro

639
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:41,160
Speaker 1: again jealing lets the small sample size early this year

640
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,400
Speaker 1: before his injury that he actually rated as the best

641
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,839
Speaker 1: pitch framer on the Marlins to that point that we've

642
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,160
Speaker 1: seen so far in twenty twenty one. So that's one

643
00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:52,560
Speaker 1: area where he gets runs back. And we know Alfaro

644
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:56,239
Speaker 1: has that strong arm that his success rate at throwing

645
00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,279
Speaker 1: out runners in his career has kind of fluctuated a

646
00:34:58,320 --> 00:34:58,759
Speaker 1: little bit.

647
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:00,200
Speaker 2: What you do know is that.

648
00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:02,760
Speaker 1: It deters guys from attempting steals in the first place,

649
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,400
Speaker 1: so that's a plus to have his presence back there.

650
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:09,520
Speaker 1: Switching over to Chad Wallack, he's been more serviceable as

651
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,839
Speaker 1: a pitch framer. A little bit streaky this year where

652
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,480
Speaker 1: there've been some very notable screw ups from Wallack, but

653
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:18,200
Speaker 1: overall those numbers are more favorable for him than San

654
00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:23,120
Speaker 1: die leone. The problem with Wallack is that opposing base

655
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 1: stealers are running on him at will, and that's something

656
00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:29,520
Speaker 1: that was a moderate strength of his in the past,

657
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:32,960
Speaker 1: even though he never had elite arm strength that his

658
00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 1: pop time was pretty respectable. For whatever reason, that is

659
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,520
Speaker 1: not working out this year. I mean, he opposing base

660
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:44,440
Speaker 1: runners are nearly perfect attempting to steal against him, and

661
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:48,200
Speaker 1: they're doing it at a high frequency compared to both

662
00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:51,600
Speaker 1: al Farrow and Leone back there. It's definitely something that

663
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,040
Speaker 1: opposing teams are scouting with the Marlins and they feel

664
00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,120
Speaker 1: that at his current state that Wallack is someone they

665
00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:03,000
Speaker 1: can run against. All my criticisms about Jorge Alfaro offensively,

666
00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:06,759
Speaker 1: I mean, Wallack has been just a disaster himself so

667
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,439
Speaker 1: far this year. He's had some bright spots in previous years.

668
00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,839
Speaker 1: I'd say last year, like Wallack was legitimately on par

669
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 1: with al Faro as an offensive player. But this year

670
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,200
Speaker 1: there's just nothing to like about Wallack. He is not

671
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,919
Speaker 1: hitting for power at all, and that's something he's done

672
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,239
Speaker 1: occasionally in the past. The more concerning thing is how

673
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: much he is swinging in missing at balls in the

674
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,120
Speaker 1: strike zone, Like, even though he is getting some pitches

675
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:33,279
Speaker 1: to hit, he's batting near to the.

676
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:34,560
Speaker 2: Bottom of the lineup.

677
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:39,480
Speaker 1: That there's really there's no reason why he hit. Opposing

678
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,439
Speaker 1: pitchers wouldn't want to challenge him, and they are doing

679
00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:44,720
Speaker 1: it and he is not taking advantage of it. He's

680
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,360
Speaker 1: swinging misrate on pitches in the zone. It's one of

681
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:49,719
Speaker 1: the worst in baseball out of hundreds and hundreds of

682
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 1: hitters that have had equivalent playing time to him this year.

683
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:57,160
Speaker 1: It's a big issue, and there haven't really been any

684
00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 1: signs whatsoever recently that that is going to turnaround. This

685
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,080
Speaker 1: is something I believe I referenced. If I didn't reference

686
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 1: on a previous POD, I certainly did on other platforms

687
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,480
Speaker 1: that the way this should play out is it's hard

688
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:12,960
Speaker 1: to split hairs between Wallach and Leone and say which

689
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 1: one is the weaker link, because they've both struggled. They've

690
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:18,520
Speaker 1: both been bad this year. But what I would expect

691
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,840
Speaker 1: is that you see Chad Wallack get optioned to triple A.

692
00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:24,640
Speaker 1: Some of this, really, all this comes down to the

693
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:29,719
Speaker 1: contractual situations where Leone is far enough into his major

694
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:33,359
Speaker 1: league service time that if the Marlins were to DFA him,

695
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:35,760
Speaker 1: and if he was to even make it through waivers,

696
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:39,440
Speaker 1: which is highly likely, that he would still have the

697
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:44,000
Speaker 1: right to elect free agency and collect what remains of

698
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,319
Speaker 1: his salary, which is about twice league minimum that once

699
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:50,400
Speaker 1: he got called up to the majors, he was entitled

700
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,200
Speaker 1: to a pro rated portion of one point two five

701
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,480
Speaker 1: million dollars this year. If the Marlins are at all

702
00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:01,120
Speaker 1: concerned about their finances, and I mean by all indications

703
00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,200
Speaker 1: are they that is a very important consideration for them

704
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,360
Speaker 1: when making any sort of move, that Leone should be safe,

705
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:10,680
Speaker 1: because if they're going to be paying him anyway, then

706
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:12,640
Speaker 1: they might as well pay him for him to be

707
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:16,640
Speaker 1: on their team and in their organization. The other very

708
00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:19,839
Speaker 1: curious that I dug up that I think is more.

709
00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:24,160
Speaker 1: I wouldn't put too much stock into this, but including Sunday,

710
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:28,160
Speaker 1: Marlin's pitchers have a two point eighty eight er this

711
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,200
Speaker 1: year when throwing to Sandy Leone and that's over a

712
00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 1: sample of one hundred and seventy two innings. Just like

713
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:38,280
Speaker 1: to put that into perspective, It's imagine one pitcher working

714
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:40,720
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy two innings with a two point

715
00:38:40,719 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 1: eight eight ERA, you would say that guy is an ace,

716
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:45,440
Speaker 1: that he's one of the better pitchers in the league.

717
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:49,200
Speaker 1: I mean, that is basically what Sandy Alcntra has done,

718
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:53,560
Speaker 1: dated back to the middle of the twenty nineteen season. Basically,

719
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:57,160
Speaker 1: everybody turns into Sandy when they are pitching to Sandy Leon.

720
00:38:57,200 --> 00:38:59,120
Speaker 1: Sorry for the confusion there, but you see what I

721
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:02,759
Speaker 1: mean that with Leone catching Marlins pitchers of a two

722
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:06,160
Speaker 1: point eight eight ERA with Chad Wallach, it is about

723
00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:08,719
Speaker 1: seven tenths of a run higher, a three point five

724
00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:12,840
Speaker 1: to seven ERA, still very good, but that's a significant difference.

725
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:15,880
Speaker 1: And then with Jorge Alfaro so far this year, before

726
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,439
Speaker 1: his injury, it was a four point fifteen ERA. There's

727
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:22,919
Speaker 1: a lot of noise with these numbers, as I wish

728
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,480
Speaker 1: I could give credit to who pointed it out to

729
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 1: me on Twitter that, of course, Alfaro's sample was at

730
00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:31,239
Speaker 1: the very beginning of the year when Don Mattingly was

731
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:36,040
Speaker 1: having some trouble distinguishing what pictures belonged in which roles

732
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,799
Speaker 1: coming out of the bullpen, So that led to some

733
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,839
Speaker 1: inflated numbers because Alfaro was catching the majority of those

734
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:46,120
Speaker 1: games early on, and he was that falls on maddingly

735
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,120
Speaker 1: more so than Alfaro. I don't think there was anything

736
00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:52,520
Speaker 1: in particular that Alfaro was messing up. Just to point

737
00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:55,440
Speaker 1: fingers briefly to someone like Anthony Bass, I don't think

738
00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:59,080
Speaker 1: it was Alfaro that made Bass struggle so much during

739
00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:02,759
Speaker 1: his first couple say opportunities with the team. So there's

740
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:04,600
Speaker 1: a lot of noise there. And if you dig into

741
00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:07,400
Speaker 1: the split, even though there's that pretty decent range in

742
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:12,719
Speaker 1: opposing er, the peripheral numbers are pretty similar across the board.

743
00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:15,440
Speaker 1: In terms of strikeout rate, with Leon behind the plate,

744
00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:18,439
Speaker 1: it's identical to with Walk behind the plate. In terms

745
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:20,839
Speaker 1: of walk rate, it's about the same, home run rate

746
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:24,360
Speaker 1: about the same, And what was working against Alfaro early

747
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:28,480
Speaker 1: on is that pitchers were allowing way more home runs

748
00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:31,319
Speaker 1: with him behind the plate. For whatever reason. When Sandy

749
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:34,919
Speaker 1: Leon is behind the plate, the Marlins fielders turn way

750
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,839
Speaker 1: more double plays than in other situations. Sandy doesn't really

751
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:40,839
Speaker 1: have any control over that. I think he's only been

752
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:44,600
Speaker 1: involved with maybe two of those double plays plays at

753
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,359
Speaker 1: the plate that he was making, so for the most

754
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,600
Speaker 1: part that is out of his hands and into his

755
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:53,040
Speaker 1: teammate's hands. So a lot of randomness going on there,

756
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:57,000
Speaker 1: even in a pretty big sample. With that being said,

757
00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:00,000
Speaker 1: the fact that good things seem to happen with Sandy

758
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:03,680
Speaker 1: behind the plate, that's just another reason why the team

759
00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:06,799
Speaker 1: would be motivated to hold on to him for the

760
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 1: time being, so Walak would go down to triple A.

761
00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:11,120
Speaker 2: And a final.

762
00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:13,839
Speaker 1: Note on the catching situation is the question of if

763
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:16,560
Speaker 1: both Leon and Wallach are not getting the job done,

764
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,720
Speaker 1: when does the team consider something.

765
00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:22,120
Speaker 2: Go to the next man.

766
00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:26,239
Speaker 1: Up at Triple A Jacksonville, Brian Navareto, you remember him

767
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,120
Speaker 1: very briefly in the majors last year, finally made his

768
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:31,920
Speaker 1: major league debut. They brought him back during the off

769
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:36,000
Speaker 1: season after he kind of cleared waivers. He went unclaimed

770
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:39,080
Speaker 1: by other teams. They had opportunities to nab him, and

771
00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:43,359
Speaker 1: now he is off to an awesome start offensively in Jacksonville,

772
00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:47,520
Speaker 1: where entering Sunday, hitting three twenty four with a ten

773
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:51,680
Speaker 1: to seventy eight ops, three home runs, seven total extra

774
00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:56,560
Speaker 1: base hits sets ten RBIs in eleven games played at

775
00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:58,880
Speaker 1: the Triple A level. He had never played at Triple

776
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:04,120
Speaker 1: A before. He is significantly younger than both Alfaro and Wallack,

777
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:07,960
Speaker 1: and certainly younger than Sande Leone. This is his age

778
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:12,120
Speaker 1: twenty six season. Historically, not a whole lot of reasons

779
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,160
Speaker 1: to trust that he's a great offensive player.

780
00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:15,400
Speaker 2: In the miners.

781
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,320
Speaker 1: With the Twins organization and briefly with the Yankees organization,

782
00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:21,360
Speaker 1: he was a poor hitter, didn't show a ton of power,

783
00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:25,600
Speaker 1: but respectable contact skills. At the very least, a better

784
00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:29,000
Speaker 1: athlete than either Leone or Wallack. When you're talking about

785
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:30,719
Speaker 1: being useful.

786
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:31,320
Speaker 2: As a base runner.

787
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:34,680
Speaker 1: So if he keeps this up for another few weeks,

788
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:38,560
Speaker 1: then I think it becomes an interesting conversation depending on

789
00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:43,160
Speaker 1: how much he does continue hitting. His track record throwing

790
00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:46,440
Speaker 1: out base runners in the miners is exceptional, a career

791
00:42:47,239 --> 00:42:51,280
Speaker 1: forty seven percent caught stealing rate that has not transferred

792
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:55,360
Speaker 1: over yet here into twenty twenty one. So Nevarreto is

793
00:42:55,360 --> 00:42:57,759
Speaker 1: a guy to keep your eye on, but his long

794
00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:01,360
Speaker 1: track record is not all that inspired, so I wouldn't

795
00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:04,000
Speaker 1: get your hopes up too high. But there does come

796
00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:06,840
Speaker 1: a point where he may force his way up into

797
00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,440
Speaker 1: the major leagues. That will do it for this episode

798
00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:12,680
Speaker 1: here of the official show, Eli Susman here and thanks

799
00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:15,439
Speaker 1: as always too Symbol for the support more than two

800
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,440
Speaker 1: months as our sponsor here on the Fish Stripes podcast.

801
00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:20,840
Speaker 2: A very very busy.

802
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:24,279
Speaker 1: Week ahead on Monday, where they begin a four game

803
00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:29,399
Speaker 1: series against the Phillies in Lone Depot Park, trying to

804
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:32,600
Speaker 1: leapfrog the Phillies and the standings. It all goes right

805
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:36,080
Speaker 1: this week, potentially raise all the way up to first place.

806
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:38,799
Speaker 1: From following the team this season, I think what we've

807
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:41,880
Speaker 1: seen is that when they just seem on track to

808
00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:45,120
Speaker 1: finally break out and get over the hump and emerge

809
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:48,839
Speaker 1: as a consistently good team. There's one step back. So

810
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:51,760
Speaker 1: that's kind of my mindset moving forward that I think

811
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:54,960
Speaker 1: you need to be prepared for less than perfection from

812
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:57,040
Speaker 1: this team, even if they are in a stronger position

813
00:43:57,640 --> 00:44:01,840
Speaker 1: entering this series. Our series pre Nicole Cahill will have

814
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:05,600
Speaker 1: her article up on fish Stripes on Monday morning. Monday night,

815
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:08,640
Speaker 1: an hour before first pitch, we'll have our fish Stripes

816
00:44:08,719 --> 00:44:12,799
Speaker 1: live live stream on Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube on this

817
00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:15,359
Speaker 1: podcast channel later this week. Of course, we have our

818
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:19,120
Speaker 1: small pods from at word Doll and from Daniel Rodriguez

819
00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:22,439
Speaker 1: on Tuesday through Friday. Throughout every Marlins game, be sure

820
00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:26,440
Speaker 1: to play along with us our fish Picks prop bets contest.

821
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:29,400
Speaker 1: It's free to play. The link to play is embedded

822
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,040
Speaker 1: right there on our homepage and on fish Stripes dot com,

823
00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:34,480
Speaker 1: and we tweeted out every single day. We'd love for

824
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:37,799
Speaker 1: you to play along. More than three hundred Marlins fans

825
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:41,760
Speaker 1: are already doing so this season. And on the side,

826
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:45,240
Speaker 1: if you have a small business based in South Florida

827
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:48,320
Speaker 1: and interested in spreading the word about that and getting

828
00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,640
Speaker 1: involved in our podcast and getting involved in our contest

829
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:54,680
Speaker 1: as a sponsor of fish Picks. Just hit me up

830
00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:57,960
Speaker 1: fun week up ahead, and we thank you always for

831
00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:00,560
Speaker 1: the sport. Be sure to subscribe to the pod, rate

832
00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:04,800
Speaker 1: and review wherever applicable, and I always enjoy your feedback

833
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:08,480
Speaker 1: about how we can make this even better. As always,

834
00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:26,400
Speaker 1: go fish