CINCINNATI
Anthony Bender looked over the film from the night before, the outing in which he gave up a career-high four runs that turned a tie game into an eventual 7-4 Miami Marlins loss to the Cincinnati Reds, and came to a simple conclusion.
“Just didn’t have my best stuff,” Bender said Sunday. “That’s all it was.”
Bender gave up three hits (all line drives), walked two more (one intentional) and allowed a sacrifice fly in his 18-pitch sixth inning.
Only eight of Bender’s 18 pitches were in the strike zone. Five of those eight were put into play. All five either resulted in a hit or drove in a run.
“A lot of balls just stayed up and flat,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “They didn’t have the same down movement.”
But outings like Saturday haven’t necessarily been outliers as of late.
After beginning his MLB career by going 22 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run (the fifth-longest streak in MLB history), Bender has allowed 16 earned runs over his past 24 innings — a 6.00 ERA since giving up his first earned runs of the season on June 29. Bender has given up at least one earned run in 10 of his 24 outings in this stretch and multiple runs four times.
He has a .261 batting average against in that span (compared to .145 in his first 21 appearances), a 1.29 WHIP (compared to 0.70). Thirteen of the 24 hits he has allowed in this almost two-month stretch have gone for extra bases (seven doubles, one triple and five home runs). He allowed just one double before that.
Also of note: The average spin rate of Bender’s primary pitches are both down about 200 revolutions per minute during this stretch.
His sinker’s spin rate dropped from 2,386 revolutions per minute to 2,148 (for reference, league average this season is 2,126).
The average spin rate on his slider, a pitch that has induced a 49.7-percent whiff rate, has fallen from 2,599 revolutions per minute over his first 21 appearances to 2,364 over the past 24 outings (for reference, league average this season is 2,425 revolutions per minute).
Despite this, Bender said he hasn’t lost confidence in his ability.
“I think my pitches work really well together,” Bender said. “I still trust my stuff. I’ve just got to keep that going out there and keep attacking guys.”
And the Marlins still see value in Bender even as he goes through the first extended rough patch of his big-league career.
“We know when he gets in the zone, his stuff is plus plus,” pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said. “His better days are ahead of him and I’m gonna keep challenging and giving him more pressure cooker situations and seeing how he responds to it.”
Defensive musical chairs
As the 2021 regular season begins to wind down and a chance to make the playoffs all but out of sight, expect the Marlins’ lineup to be in an ever-changing state of flux.
On any given day over the final six weeks of the season, players will be bouncing from one position to another.
Jorge Alfaro could be playing in left field, at first base or at catcher.
Isan Diaz could be at second base or third base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. could be at second base or shortstop. Miguel Rojas and Brian Anderson, a Gold Glove caliber duo on the left side of the Marlins’ infield, could get occasional rest days to make this possible.
Lewis Brinson and Bryan De La Cruz could start at any of the three outfield spots, while Jesus Sanchez can get starts in left or right field.
With the Marlins in last place in the NL East, 22 games under .500 and 16.5 games behind the division leading Atlanta Braves heading into Sunday’s games, this final stretch is more about evaluating individual players and experimenting for the future.
“You want to give the organization an opportunity to make decisions,” Mattingly said, “and so you want to see [players] in different places ... but to do that, we’ve got to give guys days [off]. Obviously, we’re trying to win. Every time you put a lineup out there, you’re trying to win and think you can win with that group, but at this point you’re also trying to give the organization a good look at everyone and get back to that decision process for the winter.”
Marlins general manager Kim Ng earlier this month stressed the importance of defensive versatility. Players who can start at multiple positions — the Kris Bryants, Kike Hernandezes, Jurickson Profars, Ben Zobrists and Chris Taylors of the baseball world — “really add a lot to your club,” she said. The Marlins realized that over the last three years with superutility player Jon Berti, who has been on the injured list since July 23 with a concussion.
That’s why, after acquiring catcher Alex Jackson at the trade deadline, the Marlins moved Alfaro from behind the plate to primarily playing left field. Ten of his last 14 starts have been in the outfield, with three others being at catcher and one at first base.
“If I’m at first base, left field, anywhere on the field, every time I get there, I step on the field, it’s the same thing: My mentality is win,” Alfaro said. “Give my 100 percent. Whatever I have. Wherever I’m playing. Just give my 100 percent for the team.”
Meanwhile, Chisholm has primarily played second base this year but the Marlins still view him as a potential starting shortstop. Diaz had been solely a second baseman to this point in his career but began getting reps at third base after losing out on the starting second base job to Chisholm in spring training and has played solid defense at both spots.
Playing spoiler
While the Marlins’ playoff hopes are gone, they will still play a role in who makes the postseason. Nineteen of their final games of the season are against the top three teams in the NL East — 10 with the third-place Mets, six with the second-place Phillies and three with the first-place Braves. Miami also hosts the Reds, who are in the thick of the NL wild card race for three more games after finishing this four-game series at Great American Ball Park.
“We will have influence in who wins this division,” Ng said, “and we need to take that seriously.”
Pablo Lopez’s first rehab start
Marlins right-handed pitcher Pablo Lopez faced the minimum over three scoreless and hitless innings with the Triple A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Saturday in his first rehab assignment start as he works to return from a right rotator cuff strain.
Lopez threw 38 pitches, 24 of which went for strikes. He struck out three and allowed just one baserunner, a first-inning hit by pitch that was erased by an inning-ending double play.
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