Joe Mack stars in Marlins spring game

JUPITER, FL—On Tuesday, the Miami Marlins welcomed the Philadelphia Phillies all the way from Clearwater, Florida. Two of the Marlins four major league free agent signings took the mound in what ended up being a 6-1 win for the Fish.

Chris Paddack, John King make spring training debut

Chris Paddack, who signed with the Marlins on February 12, made his first start of the spring. In his lone inning of work, he threw 21 pitches (13 for strikes), allowing one run on one hit, one hit by pitch and one strikeout. Johan Rojas struck out swinging on Paddack's 94.5 mph four-seam fastball, which was his top velocity of the outing.

On top of the fastball, he threw his curveball, changeup, slider and sinker. In total, he generated two whiffs on nine swings.

"I felt like we got a lot of good work, especially with runners on first and second right away," Paddack said ."A lot of good, stressful pitches out of the wind or out of the stretch, early and often. I felt like with the pitch-calling, that was something that we're going to use spring to get used to, but I made a joke to (assistant pitching coach) Rob (Marcello Jr.) that he gets to play MLB The Show every day, just a live version, so we have fun with it. Thought me and (catcher Joe) Mack back there worked really well today."

Paddack's top priority was working on his sinker (he refers to it as his two-seamer). He threw it twice. One of those hit Trea Turner, which the veteran right-hander apologized to Turner about. The other one to Johan Rojas was fouled off.

The slider was thrown five times (24% of the time) on Tuesday. His usage of it was only 5.9% last season. He landed it twice for a strike, but didn't generate any whiffs on that pitch.

"Got some good feedback from Mack and our pitching coaches in the dugout that they liked what they saw," Paddack said.

In relief, John King also made his first appearance of the spring, throwing 18 pitches, working a 1-2-3 inning where he struck out two in the process. His fastball topped out at 91.9 mph and both of his strikeouts came with the slider. The first one was originally called a ball, but got overturned after a successful ABS challenge.

"The sinker is a terrific pitch, and just continuing to use this time to put into place some of the work you're doing on the arsenal side of things that are going to pay big dividends for him versus left and right this year," said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough.

Joe Mack makes his first start

Fish On First No. 2 prospect Joe Mack made his first start of the spring, catching Paddack and King among others, but his most notable moment was the grand slam he hit in the bottom of the fifth inning off of Andrew Walling. The ball left the bat at 97.3 mph and went 336 feet to left field.

"I think coming into camp this year, just the comfortability around everyone and knowing that Joe's very close, and he's incredibly talented on both sides of the ball," said McCullough. "I think coming to this camp off a really solid year in Triple-A gave him a lot of confidence coming in. I think a lot of it also stems in the offseason. He stayed here in Jupiter most of the offseason and really committed himself to trying to prepare his body and mind as well as he could for for this upcoming season."

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Last season in Triple-A Jacksonville, Mack slashed .257/.338/.475/.813 with 21 home runs, 58 RBI and a 120 wRC+, cementing himself as one of the best catching prospects in the entire sport. He also won the Minor League Gold Glove at his position in 2024. Uncharacteristically, the only Phillies run of the game scored on a wild pickoff attempt by Mack (he was charged with an error and the run was unearned).

"It's probably still the most demanding position on the field," McCullough said regarding catchers. "In some ways, any type of offense you get from that position, you look at as a real bonus. We believe the chance to impact on both sides of the ball. He's a terrific thrower, there's a lot of athleticism and creativity with how he can throw. The confidence he has back there to do that as well as layering on the type of receiver that that he is."

Quick Notes

- In addition to Paddack and King, the following pitched on Tuesday: Nigel Belgrave, Zach Brzykcy, Josh Ekness, Dax Fulton, Cade Gibson, Adam Mazur and Jack Ralston.

- Liam Hicks made his first start of the spring at first base, going 2-for-2 at the plate.

- Hicks and Kyle Stowers were hit by pitches, but both of them felt fine after exiting the game.

- Graham Pauley (right forearm) received "good news" after undergoing imaging and he hopes to play in games at some point this week.

- Braxton Garrett will make the trip to Dunedin and start Thursday's game. He will go just one inning. Fish On First No. 1 prospect Thomas White will also make the trip to and make his Grapefruit League debut in relief.

- Robby Snelling (FOF #3) is expected to pitch on Friday in Clearwater.

- On the World Baseball Classic front, Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols announced that Sandy Alcantara will face Venezuela in pool play. That game will take place on Wednesday, March 11 at 8:00 pm in loanDepot park.

What's next?

The Marlins play another game in Jupiter, welcoming the Houston Astros for a 1:10 pm first pitch on Wednesday. Tyler Phillips will start the game for the Marlins and Pete Fairbanks will be making his spring debut. Hunter Brown starts for the Astros. The game will not be televised, but you can listen on MLB.TV.