Pitching prospects, Conine star in Spring Breakout Game win

Pitching was the story of the day for Miami who allowed just two runs on three hits. Backed by two hits each for Griffin Conine and Paul McIntosh, the Marlins recorded a 3-2 win over the best the St. Louis Cardinals system has to offer.

White, Miller impressive

Second-ranked prospect and 35th overall pick from 2023 started for the Marlins. Working out his fastball/breaker combo which holds almost 20 mph of velo separation, he continued to impress this spring by striking out three in his inning of work. He touched 97, sat at 94 and was down to 79 on the radar gun. Despite being a tad spotty with fastball command, it was another solid showing for White.

"It was interesting. I was a little nervous, but once I threw the first pitch I locked in," White said, summing up his day. "I definitely had more in the tank velo wise, but I just wanted to be in control of the game."

Speaking about his most used secondary pitch, White described it a few different ways; as both a slider and curveball. The pitch owns sharp snap and break when White is throwing it at his best. It tunnels off the fastball well due to the dip in velocity and his ability to change eye levels. Speaking about the breaking ball and how it felt today, White was content but stated it can play even better. Still, the pitch garnered him two whiffs.

"I think I could've thrown it a little harder. I think it was 78-79, maybe 80. I like the 80-83 and it gets a little bit firmer," White said. "I wouldn't say it was at its best but it was definitely good."

White also pinpointed the breaker -- a curveball variant -- is most valuable when he is throwing it with confidence and feel.

"It' more intent. I just gotta throw it how I'm supposed to, throw it like a fastball. That's when it's at its best."

Overall, both White and his coaches were satisfied with his outing, even if it almost cost him a couple bucks.

"They all said I looked great," White said of the reactions he got after his start. "I had a little bet going where if I got out at 15 pitches, he'd owe me money and I'd owe him if I went over 15, But with the three strikeouts, I was like, can we just go wash there? So we just went with a wash, but it was fun."

After White, top draft choice Noble Meyer threw for an inning in which he recorded two quick outs but then let up a tough-luck hit and struggled a bit with control. 2022 second rounder Jacob Miller then took over in the 3rd. Miller impressed with his deep aresnal, striking out two. The second of Miller's two strikeouts came against Won-Bin Cho and stranded a triple, the only hit he allowed.

"I told myself, it is what it is, I can't take that back. The next hitter, just go right at him," Miller said. "It was Cho, a good advanced hitter. I had seen him multiple times last year so I knew I just needed to attack him, get ahead, just spin it and have some fun with it. My plan worked."

Miller also worked out his newest pitch, a sinker, which he has implemented in place of a four-seamer he had been throwing previously before this spring. On the progression of the sinker and how it played today, Miller stated this was the best the pitch has felt so far. It will allow him to fulfill his MO of utilizing it to record quick outs.

"Especially command-wise with it, I didn't leave anything up in the zone; it was all low," Miller said. "I got a little ground ball out of it. I think you'll see a lot of that this year. It'll just help the slider and everything else play better as well."

With all of his stuff, Miller threw purposefully out of the strike zone with confidence and ultimately recorded a 43% CSW%, garnering a total of five whiffs with three different pitches. After struggling through injury last year, Miller believes a big reason for his confidence lies in his ability to keep it simple, in encouraging himself that he belongs and that his stuff plays up.

"Telling myself everyone's human and we're just playing baseball," Miller said. "It doesn't matter who's in the box; my stuff isn't going to change. Just coming out and attacking and not being scared is the biggest thing."

Miller believes the Marlins' win today in which he was the victorious pitcher will help him and the rest of his teammates gain exposure and give them a leg up on their stadium mates, the Cardinals.

"It's huge to get out there and especially to be on MLB Network televised and everything, it's just fun. And being against the Cardinals, we see them all the time, so it's almost like we run the facility now. That's always a fun rivalry; just going out there and competing especially on a bigger stage."

Conine, McIntosh provide offensive spark

Behind effective pitching, Griffin Conine was the offensive star for the Marlins. In his second at bat, Conine stepped in against Max Rajcic who tried to bust him in on the hands with a fastball. Conine not only got to the pitch, but he muscled it out to almost straight-away center field. In his next at-bat, Conine drove in a second run with an RBI single. His hits left his bat at 106 mph and 99 mph, the second and sixth hardest hit balls of the afternoon. For the success he had today, Conine pointed to major adjustments he made with his swing starting last season, particularly with his upper half. He has reverted to what has worked for him previously in his career.

"I raised my hands a lot. I used to hit like that in college and even high school," Conine said. "It felt like I was getting beat at the top a lot last year. It seems like a really simple adjustment to make your hands higher, but its obviously more than that."

"I think I got a little uncomfortable with what I was trying to do last year. Just get back to what's worked for me in the past. It's also going to put me in a spot to work more north to south."

Although at times it was tough, Conine credited his hitting coach in AA Pensacola last year Matt Snyder for initially approaching him about the adjustments and allowing him to make them successfully.

"Snyder was the first; we started this process in Pensacola last year. There were days where I hated him and I would hate him just because sometimes you hear things you don't want to hear and he gives it to you straight," Conine said. "He's always wanting to work with you though and that's the awesome part. He stayed on top of me; I was stubborn sometimes and so was he. I think we got a lot out of it moving forward."

Catcher Paul McIntosh also had a good day at the dish. Acting as the DH, McIntosh went 2-3 with an RBI. His 4th inning double was the hardest hit ball of the afternoon. McIntosh replaced Victor Mesa Jr, who is dealing with an ankle injury, on the Spring Breakout roster.

"It's a really nice thing to be a part of; I wasn't supposed to be there so it was a random opportunity," McIntosh said. "Really good game today. I was just trying to see the ball over the plate and I ended up getting something that hung up a little bit and put a good swing on it."

McIntosh had been taking part in big league camp as a non-roster invitee before being re-assigned recently. He was satisfied with his performance in big league camp this spring and stated he had a valuable experience. McIntosh believes he proved he can stick as a backstop. He could be seen regularly working with his coaches this spring on blocking, framing, and receiving.

"I wanted to showcase my defense behind the plate and I think I did that every time out," McIntosh said. "Catching guys like Eury (Perez), (A.J.) Puk, (Jesus) Luzardo; I put myself in a lot of different situations to work on certain things. They have really good stuff and it's really cool to see all my stuff translate over to catching them."

Yiddi Cappe also recorded two hits and a stolen base. Troy Johnston added an RBI single.

Other notes:

Eury Perez, who was removed from his last start with his ongoing finger issue, will not throw for the next 3-4 days.

JT Chargois (neck spasms) is also not going to throw for a few more days.

Braxton Garrett (left shoulder soreness) will be throwing live BP.

Edward Cabrera (shoulder impingement) and Josh Simpson (left arm/elbow discomfort) played catch today.

Manager Skip Schumaker is expected to be away from the team for a few days for personal reasons. Bench coach Luis Urueta will stand in as the manager.

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos will need a new hitting coach this season. Former Marlins infielder Matt Snyder, who acted as their hitting coach in 2023 after working in the same capacity for A Beloit in 2021 and 2022, has been promoted to an organizational minor league hitting coordinator. Full minor league coaching staffs are expected to be announced soon.