Burger breaks out of spring slump; Givens makes Marlins debut

[Ely Sussman]

Highlights and observations from an eventful Monday afternoon in Jupiter.

These are merely exhibition games, but Jake Burger has been lost at the plate for the Miami Marlins throughout spring training. Burger entered Monday's game against the Houston Astros with a repulsive .121/.147/.152 slash line in 34 Grapefruit League plate appearances. He wasn't passing the eye test, either—he has frequently been late on fastballs and caught guessing on secondary stuff. Given his relatively brief track record of MLB regular season success, it was reasonable to be a bit worried about whether the corner infielder can pick up where he left off in 2023 as an everyday, middle-of-the-order run producer.

Well, Burger is still plenty capable of punishing mistakes. He ripped a 432-foot solo shot to left field off of venerable closer Josh Hader in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The context is rather important here. Hader was not his usual self, struggling with both fastball velocity and location on Monday. Jazz Chisholm Jr. took him yard in the very next plate appearance, also against a 94 mph fastball that Hader misplaced.

Hader proceeded to allow two more hits and got yanked before completing the inning.

That being said, it's reassuring to have some evidence that the Burger hasn't been sapped of his outstanding raw power.

The Marlins added a third long ball in the bottom of the ninth when Dane Myers delivered a walk-off solo blast off of Cole McDonald.

 

Does Givens get a spot?

Also worth noting from the 6-5 Marlins win, recently signed righty reliever Mychal Givens pitched in his first spring training game.

Givens has more major league experience than any other pitcher in Marlins camp and numerous injuries have seemingly created an opening for the non-roster invitee. The question is how much of his stuff and command can he recapture after being derailed by injuries of his own in 2023.

Givens matched up against Astros minor leaguers in the top of the fifth. His scoreless inning included a Will Wagner groundout, a David Hensley single, a Trey Cabbage lineout, a Tommy Sacco Jr. walk and a César Salazar strikeout. He used his full arsenal (four-seamer, sinker, changeup and slider).

There's time for Givens to make two more Grapefruit League appearances, ideally against stronger competition.

 

Astros lift off vs. birthday boy

Celebrating his 28th birthday, Darren McCaughan replaced Marlins scheduled starter Bryan Hoeing on relatively short notice. The Astros lineup did not take it easy on the soft-tossing right-hander.

McCaughan (3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 65 pitches/40 strikes) allowed eight Houston baserunners, including a home run to Trey Cabbage. He worked a clean third inning, but was otherwise pitching with constant traffic around him.

Hoeing later entered out of the bullpen and handled the sixth and seventh innings.

 

Latest camp cuts

Prior to the game, the Marlins reassigned NRIs C Will Banfield, INF Tristan Gray, INF/OF Javier Sanoja and LHP Devin Smeltzer to minor league camp.

Banfield was the most productive of the bunch in Grapefruit League action. Our 20th-ranked Marlins prospect, Banfield's biggest flaw has been his lack of plate discipline, so it was highly encouraging to see him strike out only once in 17 plate appearances (albeit while primarily facing minor league backups). He is well-positioned to make his MLB debut at some point in 2024 if either Christian Bethancourt or Nick Fortes miss time due to injuries. Banfield could even overtake Fortes on the depth chart if there isn't an early-season uptick in his offensive production.

Sanoja (FOF's #23 prospect) likewise excelled in the bat-to-ball department this spring, but that was to be expected of him. He also dabbled at five different defensive positions.

Gray came to Jupiter as a sleeper to earn an active roster spot. The Tim Anderson signing halted his momentum. Gray's approach vs. left-handed pitchers still needs improvement.

Smeltzer has not cracked 90 mph with any of the 149 pitches he's thrown this spring. The Marlins would have to be really desperate for a fresh arm to call him up during the season.

 

 

What's next?

The Marlins will be playing split-squad road games on Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals (1:05 p.m.) and Houston Astros (6:05 p.m.). Yonny Chirinos is Miami's probable starter vs. St. Louis while A.J. Puk gets the nod for the night game.

Fish On First's Noah Berger will be on the scene for both contests.

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[Slacker Mills]

Classic walk-off! Pitcher puts the ball exactly where he wants it and Meyers hits it out anyway.

[Ely Sussman]

12 minutes ago, Slacker Mills said:

Classic walk-off! Pitcher puts the ball exactly where he wants it and Meyers hits it out anyway.

One of the most impressive swings of the entire spring when accounting for the pitch location and count. I don't think he would've been able to do that last year. His ABs vs. RHP look so much better right now, even ignoring results.