Conine comes of age with 1st HR at home, spectacular defense

MIAMI -- Griffin Conine hit his first career homer on Aug. 31 in San Francisco -- a knock he will never forget.

And while that first long ball was proof that he could hack it in the big leagues, perhaps his second home run was a sign of what is to come for the young outfielder -- and the resilience he’s learned along the way.

After making two stellar diving catches in right field, Conine smashed a two-run homer in the fifth inning of the Marlins’ 20-4 rubber-game loss to the Dodgers on Thursday afternoon at loanDepot park. It was his first homer at home.

“Griffin coming in, and to his right -- both good diving plays,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “We knew he had a good arm, the arm strength has been there. He's been frustrated at the plate; so it was really good to see him get the ball in the air and hit it out of the ballpark.”

While the homer -- which we’ll get to -- was big for the rookie, the defense he provided early on meant even more to Conine.

In the second inning, with two on and one out, Chris Taylor lined a ball into right field. Conine sprinted in and dove, getting his glove under the ball just in time for the out. He also popped up rather quickly, ensuring both runners didn’t advance.

That attention to the basepaths paid off two innings later, when -- with Mookie Betts on second base and one out -- Will Smith knocked the ball into right-center field. Conine sprinted over and dove, then popped up almost immediately and threw the ball to shortstop Xavier Edwards at second base to double off Betts, who had taken a sizable lead.

Boom: inning-ending double play.

But it’s not the catches themselves that are notable so much as what they signify: Conine is adjusting to the big league ballpark, its dimensions and the different approach it requires when it comes to routes in the outfield.

“There's a lot of space in the outfield here obviously; it's really, really big, and that's different than Triple-A,” Conine said. “Our Triple-A outfield [in Jacksonville] is really small -- like, right field, there's no space behind me, the gaps are pretty small. So it's been an adjustment.

“We've been talking a lot about learning to cut balls off instead of -- you're taught to get around them a lot when you’re coming up, and now it's like -- when you get in these parks with these big outfields, you got to kind of cut your angles, make a direct line.

“We saw it yesterday with [Freddie] Freeman getting a second base on a ball that, you know, I thought he shouldn't have gotten to second base on -- just because I kind of tried to get around the ball instead of going directly to it. So I thought -- today it was fly balls where I was doing that, but I felt like my angles were better, which is cool to see.”

When Conine was called up at the end of August, it was a message that his hard work had paid off. He had listened to what the Marlins wanted and delivered -- particularly at the plate. Now, he’s doing all he can to show he deserves a big league roster spot next season.

“Resiliency,” Conine said, when asked what area he’s grown the most in since being called up. “Like, getting beat down -- whether it's mid-game or over a few games -- and being able to pick yourself back up. There’s a lot that goes into that. … But I think this year especially, I’ve done a better job of it.”

It hasn’t been easy going for Conine offensively. In 22 games since he was promoted, he’s hitting .228 -- including a .154/.214/.385 slash line in his past seven games. But he isn’t deterred. And those struggles at the plate made his home run on Thursday all the sweeter.

“It was a knuckle curve from [Jack] Flaherty -- it's like, kind of his pitch,” Conine said. “... My first at-bat, he made a good pitch on the corner and I felt like I saw it well and thought it might have missed the outer edge. Obviously, 3-2, trying to get to first base, not strike out.

“So next at-bat I was just trying to see it a little bit closer to me, and knowing it was gonna be a good pitch to swing at. I feel like I just saw it out of his hand. And then off the bat, I didn't think it was going out -- I kind of was still out in front of it. But as soon as Mookie kind of looked up and watched it go out -- it was a good feeling.”