Offishial News: Schumaker emphasizes better control of the running game in 2024

Fish On First is providing extensive coverage on location throughout Marlins spring training. Click here to keep up with our latest updates.

🔷 On Wednesday, Jesús Luzardo (3.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 3 HR) became the first Marlins starting pitcher of the spring to genuinely struggle on the mound. The original Marlins lineup looked like an Opening Day dress rehearsal, but the entire starting outfield was scratched as a precaution to avoid dealing with the messy weather conditions. The Nationals won, 9-3.

 🔷 During the first of several planned interviews with Skip Schumaker, he told the Marlins Radio Network that "we made it a point of emphasis to control the running game" entering spring training. That's coming off a season where Miami allowed 130 stolen bases (seventh-most in MLB) at a 85.0% success rate (third-highest in MLB). Schumaker noted that the Marlins lead the Grapefruit League with four pickoffs through 11 games and he singled out Edward Cabrera for quickening his delivery to the plate. The full conversation is embedded at the bottom of this page.

 🔷 Releasing Avisaíl García would open the door for internal candidates to compete for an active roster spot, make Miami a better fit for remaining OF/DH free agents, and expand the universe of possible pitcher-for-hitter trades, as I wrote earlier today. I highly doubt it will happen before the regular season begins, but I felt it was worth acknowledging that this route is available.

🔷 Jazz Chisholm Jr. recognizes that "I don’t have to go max effort every single play" to be the best (and healthiest) version of himself, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald.

🔷 Michael Baumann of FanGraphs observed that Max Meyer gets minimal velocity separation between his pitches. "I would venture that in addition to generating great movement, Meyer is going to have to learn to change speeds if he’s going to stick in the rotation," Baumann concludes.

 🔷 On the latest episode of Fish On First LIVE, we did segments on a bunch of Marlins pitchers and projected which of them will make the Opening Day rotation. FOF LIVE is presented by Berger & Hicks! If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050.

 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Nationals signed Eddie Rosario to a minor league deal.

  🔷 The Marlins' Spring Breakout roster will be announced today at 11:00 a.m. ET on MLB Network.

   🔷 Next spring game for the Marlins is Friday night's home matchup against the Mets with probable starters Eury Pérez and Luis Severino.

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