A sitdown with Mel Stottlemyre Jr. about Cabrera, Sixto, more Marlins pitchers

Alex Krutchik · February 18, 2024

The Marlins pitching coach took time after Sunday's workout to speak with the media about Miami's staff.

JUPITER, FL—Mel Stottlemyre Jr. isn't available to the media every day like Marlins manager Skip Schumaker or the players are. So when we do get the opportunity, it’s always a great chat.

Instead of compressing his 30-minute interview into a single storyline, I put together a sectional story for pretty much every topic he talked about.

How will the rotation make up for Sandy’s absence?

Sandy Alcantara, out for the entire 2024 season while he recovers from Tommy John surgery, has been the Marlins’ workhorse since he arrived in 2018. In each of his last four years—excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season—he has recorded at least 180 innings. Last year, the Dominican right-hander pitched a team-high 184 ⅔ innings.

Now, there is a sizable hole to be filled.

“I mean, from a personal standpoint, I always embrace challenges,” Stottlemyre said. “Going into the season without your guy, that hurts. But it opens up and presents an opportunity for other people and also the staff to step up collectively as a group.”

Stottlemyre anticipates that the pitching staff will seize the challenge as well. The Alcantara-less rotation will include Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Eury Pérez, with Edward Cabrera, Trevor Rogers, Max Meyer, Bryan Hoeing, Ryan Weathers, George Soriano and A.J. Puk as additional candidates.

Stottlemyre lauded Alcantara’s leadership ability even while he can’t physically be on the mound.

“Sandy put himself in a position, winning the Cy Young, starting to become more of a vocal leader. Just having him around is going to push guys, because we know how Sandy is built. He never settles. So from a player standpoint, that should push you. Knowing your guy is out here every day, standing in the corner, going to battle with you. He can't do it physically, but he's there morally supporting this staff. So nothing's gonna falter and slip. How we work, how we push, none of that will go away.

How to ease the starters into spring

Four pitchers—Luzardo, Hoeing, Garrett, and Pérez—each recorded career-highs in innings pitched last season.

Stottlemyre said that carries over into the next Spring Training and requires the team to be careful about not pushing them too hard too early. He added that “Spring Training means different things to different people.”

“Guys that are starters that we pushed, there is a fine line between ‘we have to get them ready and make sure that they get their their 25 innings or so in’, and their ups and downs, and that volume, and get them ready for the season, but still stay cognizant of what they've gone through and what is going to become of their next season. So certainly we, as pitching coaches, look at that stuff.”

Garrett has been eased into spring more than any other pitcher so far. The lefty missed his first scheduled bullpen on Friday with minor shoulder soreness, but has been able to play catch from about 105 feet as of Saturday.

What gives you confidence in A.J. Puk as a starting pitcher?

Stottlemyre said he’s convinced there are some “weapons” the Marlins didn’t push with Puk coming out of the bullpen last year. Now that Puk will be stretched out for a potential starting pitcher role, Stottlemyre wants to unleash them.

One such weapon will be a two-seam fastball that they plan to add to Puk’s repertoire that already includes a four-seam fastball and a sweeper.

Stottlemyre noted that Puk has always thrown that two-seamer, but it wasn’t something he used often as it “wasn't a pitch that he felt like he wanted to get beat with when the game was on the line.”

“You're going to see, it's real,” Stottlemyre said. “It's really good. It's a pitch you can lean on and get some early outs, out of some ugly counts and at-bats.

The biggest question, Stottlemyre said, is in regards to Puk’s health. The 6’7" lefty missed about a month last season with nerve irritation in his throwing elbow.

“Can he carry the pitch counts, can he carry the workload, can he carry the in between sides? I have no doubt from a stuff standpoint, that he's gonna push himself towards a front-end guy.”

On Edward Cabrera’s control issues

Everyone we’ve spoken to in the Marlins organization and those across the league all say the same thing: Cabrera’s stuff is otherworldly, but he needs to throw it for strikes.

The 25-year-old gave up six walks per nine innings last year, but his stuff, especially on his changeup, is some of the best in the league. His run value of +9 on his changeup last year was the seventh-best in the majors out of all pitchers with at least 150 plate appearances that ended with that pitch.

Stottlemyre said Cabrera’s issues seem to be mental, as opposed to mechanical. He added that Cabrera needs to trust his stuff as much as everyone else does. The team has continued to be patient with Cabrera, and there are indications that he can turn it around this year.

“He looks like, to this point, that he's grown up a little bit,” Stottlemyre said. “And he’s shown some signs, from a bullpen standpoint, that maybe he's overcome a few things. I will tell you this about him: his work is really good. He throws strikes in bullpens. His misses are good. He does all the right things. He checks the boxes off from the pitching coach standpoint where the delivery and everything is repeatable, and that makes you say ‘okay, he's on the right track there.’”

What have you seen from Sixto Sánchez this spring?

Stottlemyre said it’s crunch time for Sixto as he enters camp looking to make the big league roster for the first time since 2020. The 25-year-old has played in one professional game since then, as he has battled a slew of injuries beginning with shoulder inflammation in Spring Training of 2021.

Sixto has thrown two bullpens so far this spring, but they have been largely unremarkable.

“If you're asking me, it's not the same Sixto to this point,” Stottlemyre said. “And I say that because I know what it looked like before when I had him.”

Stottlemyre said Sixto is “feeling pain free” and that he can move along on his throwing program. The staff plans for Sixto to participate in live batting practice next week.

"He's had so many hurdles and roadblocks,” Stottlemyre said. “He's just faltered. So it's obviously a tough road for him. We need, as an organization, to definitely see something.”

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