JUPITER, Fla. -- The Marlins will only go as far as their starting pitching takes them in 2021. Young but talented, the rotation projects Sandy Alcantara, Pablo López and Elieser Hernandez as its Nos. 1-3. The fourth and fifth spots have yet to be determined, but MLB Pipeline's No. 15 overall prospect Sixto S¨¢nchez and Miami's No. 9 prospect Trevor Rogers are the likely choices.
After Saturday night's 6-4 loss to the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, Alcantara, L¨®pez and Hernandez have each made three starts this spring.
Below is a guide to that trio, and what they want to accomplish ahead of Opening Day.
RHP Sandy Alcantara
2021 spring stats
7 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 8 BB, 10 K, .154 batting average against, 1.57 WHIP (Five of those walks came in his last outing)
Hoping to establish
First-pitch strikes. Over the past two years, Alcantara has upped his percentage of sinkers, which has allowed his walks and pitches per inning to go down and his strikeouts to go up.
2020 stats that back it up
? Career-low 8.7 percent walk rate; it was 15.8 percent in '18
? 6.8 launch angle (11.9 is MLB average)
How things have gone
? March 1: 24 pitches (16 strikes); five of eight first-pitch strikes
? March 6: 48 pitches (25 strikes); five of 12 first-pitch strikes
? March 11: 61 pitches (31 strikes); six of 14 first-pitch strikes
"It's something that Sandy and I have talked about, and he wants to know the next day what his first-pitch strikes were," Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said during a Zoom call earlier this week. "That's something that he's focused on, and getting guys into swing mode, so that they can swing at his other stuff, not paint himself into bad corners and always working deep counts trying to get back into a count."
RHP Pablo L¨®pez
2021 spring stats
9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 HB, 1 BB, 6 K, .226 batting average against, 0.89 WHIP
Hoping to establish
According to Stottlemyre, the intention behind L¨®pez adding a cutter last season was to turn it into a slider. This spring, they have experimented with the grip, velocity and shape to his curveball. At this stage, it could be classified as a slurve. The cutter is likely to stay in his arsenal.
2020 stats that back it up
? Curveball spin was near average (40th percentile)
? 28.6 percent whiff percentage (second highest of his pitches)
How things have gone
? March 2: Registered as slider -- four pitches, one called strike, no swings, 84.1 mph avg.
? March 7: Registered as curveball -- four pitches, one ball in play (double play), one whiff, 79.6 mph avg.
? March 12: Registered as curveball -- four pitches, two called strikes, 79.5 mph avg.
"[We wanted to] find a pitch that we can get on the plate, maybe use it in some early counts or some middle counts," Stottlemyre said. "I don't want him to lean on it. It's not a pitch that he's going to push and go put guys away with it. He's got other pitches to do that with hitters, but you have to get through the lineup three times as well, so that's taken some time."
RHP Elieser Hernandez
2021 Spring stats
8 2/3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 12 K, .229 batting average against, 1.04 WHIP
Hoping to establish
Changeup. Before a right lat strain ended his promising season after six starts, Hernandez pitched into the sixth inning just once. The hope is that by incorporating a third pitch, he will be able to go deeper in games.
2020 stats that back it up
? .500/.571/1.667 slash line when Hernandez faced a lineup for the third time (.321/.368/.679 in 18 career games)
? 4.7 percent walk rate (90th percentile, MLB average is 8.3 percent); 32.1 percent strikeout rate (87th percentile, MLB average is 21.8 percent)
How things have gone
? March 3: No Statcast data at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
? March 8: Eleven changeups -- three whiffs (K of Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman), two balls in play, four fouls
? March 13: Seven changeups -- two whiffs (K of Justin Williams), one called strike, one ball in play (Goldschmidt single with 101.5 mph exit velo)
"I've been working on my changeup. It's something that I need to add to my repertoire," Hernandez said via an interpreter during a Zoom call. "I think once I have that pitch and I'm feeling a little more trust in it ... I can extend my game, hopefully go a little more deeper."