Marlins depth arms Gillispie, Junk nearly flawless against Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL—If I told you just a couple of hours ago that Max Meyer and Dax Fulton wouldn't be the most impressive pitching duo from Monday's Marlins split squad, you would have every right not to believe me. Max 'n' Dax tossed a combined four innings of two-hit, four-strikeout ball against plenty of Astros regulars, while reliever Connor Gillispie had the pleasure of facing Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso back-to-back-to-back to start things in the nightcap.

Instead of letting the loud ovations from the Clover Park crowd get to him, the 27-year-old "fell back on (his) training", making quick work of the Mets' big three in the first and the middle of the order in the second. In doing so, Gillispie keeps his hitless streak this spring alive and his campaign to be in Miami's bullpen strong. Janson Junk, another reliever vying for a spot on the Opening Day roster, was lights out in his two innings of work as well, striking out four of the six Mets he faced. In total, the two tossed four hitless innings against half of New York's best lineup.

"I've just been trying to get my rhythm, throw a lot of strikes, get ahead, working on new sweeper. It's been working pretty good... my fastball has got some life to it." said Gillispie. "Just do what I can, fill up the zone and see what happens."

Gillispie threw his aforementioned sweeper—which Statcast still interprets as a slider—eight times on Monday. The pitch collected two of his three whiffs and got Lindor to fly out after falling behind early.

According to Gillispie, the pitch was something Miami's staff wanted to see as soon as he took the mound.

"They came in probably first day at camp, and we're like, let me check out that sweeper grip, and we tweaked it just a little bit, and it's been working really well for me."

As for Junk, this is also his third appearance of the spring, all coming against New York.

"It's fun. This is my third time facing them this spring, so it's like, I'm kind of building the scouting report, so by now I'm comfortable...All my pitches were working. I really felt like I could dominate them."

And dominate he did, striking out the side in the third with a curveball, sweeper and four-seam, then using the heater again to sit down Juan Soto looking the inning after.

Postgame, Junk joked that he made the sweeper a point of emphasis on Monday because Marlins coaches were disappointed that he didn't throw it in his last outing.

"They kind of got mad at me for not throwing it. So I was like, today, I'm going to throw it more so and got heck of results. And, you know, it gives me more more confidence moving forward, being able to execute it at a high level."

Of Note

- Miami's only run of the contest came courtesy of Griffin Conine, who followed two infield singles with a flare shot of his own into left in the sixth.

- An error from Derek Hill in center allowed the Mets to tie things later in the frame, and the score stayed knotted all the way to the end at 1-1.

- Xzavion Curry, Lake Bachar, Matt Pushard and Christian Roa followed Gillispie and Junk. Curry was on the mound when the Mets lone run came across, however it was unearned.

- Otto Lopez started the game at shortstop. "I worked at short this offseason because that's the position that's more difficult in the infield...I work there to feel comfortable at every position".

- Over half a year after being swapped for each other, Wilfredo Lara and Huascar Brazoban matched up in the seventh. Lara reached on an infield single, officially making the Marlins winners of the trade.

Next Up

For the first time this spring, Miami will enjoy their day off on Tuesday before getting back out to Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Wednesday to host the Nationals. First pitch comes your way at 1:10 pm, with ace Sandy Alcantara slated to make his third start of the spring.