Bendix and Kapler make their first trips to Pensacola

[Kevin Barral]

Key quotes from Marlins front office executives Peter Bendix and Gabe Kapler during their recent live interviews on Pensacola Blue Wahoos game broadcasts.

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos have been welcoming a few special guests to town during their ongoing homestand. Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and assistant general manager Gabe Kapler each made trips to see the organization's Double-A affiliate up close. They also made separate appearances on the team's game broadcast—Bendix on Tuesday and Kapler last Friday—to speak about the current state of the minor leagues and a myriad of other topics. Here's what they had to say.

"One of my main responsibilities—at least how I see it—is supporting (director of player development) Rachel Balkovec," said Kapler. "I tackled that role with the Los Angeles Dodgers many years ago, so I have a decent feel for what at least I believe is a good job. Mentoring Rachel is something I've really been enjoying and getting a chance to really work alongside her."

Kapler noted that she's an incredible leader with a great motor, comparing her to how he was back in his days with the Dodgers as aggressive, very "forward-thinking" and innovative. "I want to help her not step on the land mines that I stepped on early on in my career."

On the topic of player development, Kapler hammered down the importance of providing minor leaguers with feedback and suggesting adjustments that could take them to the next level:

"I think the first thing that I can do and we can do is recognize when a player is on a path that's not gonna get them to the major leagues. When we know that's the case, we take very aggressive action with them. We want to be very aggressive in our player development. We want them to try things, even at the expense of not feeling good or feeling a little bit awkward or uncomfortable. If many of them stay on the same path, one, two, three, four years from now, they're going to be released from baseball and we wanna give them every opportunity to reach the major leagues and perform well."

As one possible example of this, left-hander Devin Smeltzer has lowered his release point this season and is seeing great results so far as a reliever with Triple-A Jacksonville (0.96 ERA and 13 K in 9.1 IP).

Kapler explained that he'll be syncing up his visits to MiLB affiliates during Marlins road trips.

Bendix's interview took place while the Marlins were on their way to suffering their 19th loss in 25 games.

"We haven't been consistent." said Bendix about the club's poor start to the season. "We have a lot of good arms, good pitchers and a lot of good young position players. It seems like every game there's been something that goes wrong that is somewhat unexpected and don't expect will continue, but it's a different thing each game. It's a long season, though. It's still April and there's a lot of baseball left to play."

The POBO said his focus was on amateur prospects last weekend and that Pensacola was the first Marlins affiliate he has visited in person. He'll be visiting each affiliate at least once over the course of the season.

Throughout his interview, Bendix noted how important it is to have a winning culture not just at the major league level, but even at the lowest levels of MiLB. He values that the Blue Wahoos are always in contention for the Southern League championship and that Low-A Jupiter last season won the Florida State League championship.

"The player development system is really the lifeblood of every organization, but especially an organization like ours and an organization like the Rays," said Bendix. "You need to have those quality players constantly coming through your system. When you have quality players in the minor leagues, it also leads to wins and competitive teams. A lot of it is drafting well, developing well, signing international players and just constantly being on the lookout for how you can do things better."

Bendix was asked about catcher Joe Mack, who was behind the plate for that game after having been newly promoted from High-A Beloit. "High draft pick, a lot of pedigree," said Bendix. "Really good tools on him. Still very young. Had a difficult season last year, but there were some positives signs as well and then he really showed those positive things in the couple weeks down in Beloit. Seeing the plate discipline, hitting the ball hard, good work behind the plate and all of the reasons he got drafted, it was nice to see that and get him a challenge up here."

Mack slashed .347/.467/.571 with two home runs and seven RBIs through 13 games in Beloit. Tuesday was his second game with Pensacola.

Another name Bendix spoke of was outfielder Shane Sasaki, who was acquired by the Marlins in a three-team trade right before Opening Day. Through his first 15 games at the AA level, Sasaki is slashing .250/.300/.304/.604 with four walks and seven stolen bases. "Shane is somebody who does everything pretty well," said Bendix. "He's really a player where the sum of the parts exceeds any individual part, but he's a good defender, runs the bases well, steals bases, has a little bit of power, good eye at the plate and it's just a combination of very positive things."

Prior to his arrival to the Marlins organization, Sasaki had never produced a wRC+ under the league average 100 when he has more than 100 plate appearances. Last season at the High-A level, the Hawaiian slashed .301/.375/.465/.840 with seven home runs, 39 RBIs and a 130 wRC+.

Bendix appreciates that the Blue Wahoos consistently draw large crowds and surround Marlins prospects with a lively gameday atmosphere. "Being able to play in front of fans at such a well-done stadium, taken care of so well, the in-game entertainment, all the little details that really do matter and contribute to the positive environment for these players, contribute to the pressure and the stakes and all the things that you can't really develop without actually having a really strong support."

 

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The major league team looks to salvage a game against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. The Marlins will send out former top prospect Sixto Sánchez to the mound for what is expected to be an opener situation with recently called up Kyle Tyler piggybacking him. First pitch is at 7:20 p.m.

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