Formidable back-end duo make Grapefruit League debuts

JUPITER, Fla. -- Marlins southpaws Tanner Scott and Andrew Nardi made one of the more formidable late-inning duos in the Majors last season, but their spring debuts came much earlier in Wednesday’s 6-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Astros at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

The pair combined for four outs, serving as a reminder that Spring Training is meant to prepare for the regular season by building back up and trying out new things.

Scott allowed back-to-back singles off soft contact to open the third before a sun-aided RBI double. After a walk, a sacrifice fly and a strikeout, his 20-pitch outing was done.

Scott, who tied with Orioles closer Félix Bautista for the highest fWAR among MLB relievers in 2023, wants to be better in ’24. A slider/four-seam pitcher, he threw an 0-2 changeup to leadoff batter Dixon Machado. It’s a pitch that was part of Scott’s repertoire when he was selected by the Orioles in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB Draft.

“Give hitters a worse chance,” as he put it.

A year ago, Nardi was unproven after a rough first stint in the big leagues. He broke out in Spring Training and went on to produce a 169 ERA+ as manager Skip Schumaker’s go-to reliever with men on base.

Nardi, who worked on a splitter over the offseason, didn’t throw one during his 19-pitch outing in the fourth. His goal was to attack the zone -- something he did for the most part, even though there was a walk (eight-pitch plate appearance) and hit-by-pitch (0-2 count) sprinkled in. Of the five batters Nardi faced, he got ahead in the count to all but one of them.

“I still want to prove that I deserve to be up there,” Nardi said. “It all just starts with first strike. I still want to show that I deserve to be up there.”

If Miami hopes to reach the postseason again, it will need Scott and Nardi to once again thrive in high-leverage situations. Only three Major League left-handers making at least half of their appearances in relief had sub-3.00 ERAs, K/9 rate over 11 and threw 50-plus innings: Josh Hader, Scott and Nardi.

How does their manager think they stack up?

“There's pretty good ones,” Schumaker said. “Our first series, [Aroldis] Chapman and [David] Bednar are pretty good. There's all kinds of back end nowadays. That's why you try to beat the starter, because once you get to the back end, it's tough. But we feel really good about when we have a lead that it's going to hold, and you don't see too many back ends that are lefty-lefty. So I'd probably say that that's probably the best lefty-lefty in the league, and I'll just leave it at that.”

Anderson debuts Thursday

Tim Anderson ran the bases and took more at-bats on Wednesday, according to Schumaker. By checking all the boxes, he will start on Thursday night against the Yankees in Tampa, Fla.

Top 30 prospect watch

Here's a look at how four Minor Leaguers fared in Wednesday's game vs. the Astros:

· Victor Mesa Jr. (No. 6 prospect) started in left field and was hitless in two at-bats.

· Dane Myers (No. 13 prospect) started for the third time in center this spring, going 1-for-2.

· Troy Johnston (No. 20 prospect) went 0-for-1 with a walk.

· Will Banfield (No. 26 prospect) walked twice in two plate appearances.

Up next

Left-hander Ryan Weathers will make his second start at 6:35 p.m. ET on Thursday in Tampa. Miami’s No. 3 prospect Max Meyer is scheduled to pitch in what would be his first game action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2022. Stream the game live on MLB.TV.