Joe Mack continues to impress defensively despite overall team struggles

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Although the Miami Marlins fell to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Citrus Series opener by a final score of 7-2, Joe Mack has been a bright spot defensively for the Marlins.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Mack threw out Chandler Simpson trying to steal second. Simpson, who entered Friday's game in the 98th percentile in sprint speed, had only been caught stealing four times, tied for second least in baseball. Thankfully for Mack, he had crossed paths with him in Triple-A last season and had some prior preparation.

"I just know that he's going to be a guy that you have to look out for," Mack said postgame. "He's a very, very fast athlete. It's just something that you got to prepare for and be ready for at all times."

Mack's pop time on the throw was 1.80 seconds, the fastest amongst any Marlins catcher this season and the seventh fastest this season in baseball. Mack also holds the three quickest pop times of the Marlins season, and he has only played in 10 games. The throw was clocked at 81.7 mph.

"That throw tonight was impressive," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "The exchange and the accuracy that he was able to get on it. Even though the one that Mullins stole, he did all he could. He made a good throw off the line and (Mullins) just beat it."

Through 10 games in the majors, Mack already holds the 12th quickest average pop time in MLB. He is quickly climbing the Statcast leaderboards for Blocks Above Average and Catchers Caught Stealing Above Average as well. The Marlins may be struggling as a team, but ever since Mack joined the big league club, defense behind the plate has seen a massive improvement.

The only downside has been the bat, slashing .200/.226/.300/.526 with two RBI. His biggest issue has been the strikeouts, with already eleven on the season and two more on Friday.

"I know my bat can definitely wake up a little bit more," Mack said. "I definitely haven't shown much on that aspect. Maybe it's just trying to do too much, but other than that, defensively I feel pretty confident within my ability to receive, block and throw the ball, It's something they obviously brought me up for, and showing that off is a good thing. The bat I think just needs to wake up a little bit. When that starts to roll, then we just go."

For Janson Junk, it is now back-to-back starts where he has struggled. On Friday night, Junk went 5 2/3 innings pitched allowing seven runs on 10 hits (two home runs) while walking three and striking out four.

"I think everything that could have happened wrong, happened," Junk said. "It was very frustrating. I was trying to battle, and it just didn't go my way tonight."

In the bottom of the first inning, Junk surrendered a first-pitch homer to Yandy Diaz, marking his sixth of the season to give Tampa an early 2-0 lead. For Diaz, it was his 105th homer as a member of the Rays, moving him past Carl Crawford on the Rays all-time home run list. Junk allowed the home run on a sweeper that he left middle-middle.

The second home run that Junk allowed came in the bottom of the sixth inning, when free-agent signing Cedric Mullins hit his third of the season to right field. This time, Junk threw a slider which landed towards the top of the strike zone, but Mullins took advantage of it, extending the Rays lead, 7-2.

"That one leaked a little," Junk said. "I think that was more out of frustration. I got to be better in that moment after the ball hits whatever that is up there. Just seeing that I kind of affected me a little bit."

Rays manager Kevin Cash made the decision to have lefty Ian Seymour start the game as an opener. With the Marlins struggling against left-handed pitching (.666 OPS going into Friday), Tampa becomes the second team to use this strategy, with the Washington Nationals doing it during the weekend series at home.

Unlike the first time when Washington did this, it did not work early on, as Connor Norby took Seymour deep for his fourth home run of the season, making it a 2-1 game. The ball left the bat at 105.1 mph and went 412 feet to left field.

After struggling to start the season, Jakob Marsee finally seems to be turning a corner, as he notched his second three-hit game of the season, capped off by a solo homer in the top of the sixth inning. He is now slashing .190/.307/.294/.601 with three home runs, 14 RBI, 13 stolen bases and a 76 wRC+.

With the loss, the Marlins drop to a season-worst five games under .500 at 20-25. Sandy Alcantara takes the mound tomorrow for Miami. Last time he pitched inside Tropicana Field, he tossed a complete game during the 2023 season. First pitch is at 4:10 pm.