Miami Marlins links for Thursday, March 8th:
Spring Training results
The Marlins were victorious Wednesday against the Houston Astros, piling on the runs late and winning 7-6 to bring their Grapefruit League record to 7-4. Presumptive three-hole hitter Starlin Castro had a two-hit day, and long time farmhand Isaac Galloway hit a two-run double in the ninth to secure the lead for good.
Meanwhile, hometown hero Lewis Brinson continues to shine in the spring.
OF Lewis Brinson, highest rated prospect acquired by Marlins this winter, 2 for 2 today (including 5th double of spring), average up to .409. Very encouraging.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) March 7, 2018
Pablo Lopez, the young righty picked up from the Seattle Mariners in the David Phelps trade last year, looked solid in two innings with three strikeouts on his 22nd birthday. Justin Nicolino and Chris O’Grady were decidedly less so, the pair combining to give up seven hits and four earned runs. Hey, it’s spring training though...maybe they were just tinkering.
Another Marlin injured
Isan Diaz collides with Isaac Galloway going after shallow fly ball. Galloway got up and appears fine. Diaz on ground for a while, gets up limping, and comes out.
— clarkspencer (@clarkspencer) March 7, 2018
The severity of his injury is unclear at this juncture, but it appears to be a left ankle injury of some kind. Consider him day-to-day until further update.
Programming alert of note, courtesy of Glenn Geffner!
Beginning with today’s 1:05 game against the #Astros, each of the next 5 #Marlins Grapefruit League games through Sunday will air on https://t.co/2LaaoTCkvN & @MLBAtBat app with @Kyle_Sielaff and @JaxShrimp voice @Roger_Hoover on the call. Dave & I are back Tuesday. @MarlinsRadio
— Glenn Geffner (@GlennGeffner) March 7, 2018
Today’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals will feature (at least initially, because, you know, spring training) Jose Urena vs Carlos Martinez.
Lopez shines on birthday
Joe Frisaro writes about Lopez’ sterling spring performance thus far and how much the team likes him.
Brinson wants to be elite-complete
Craig Davis pens a piece about Lewis Brinson’s quest to be more than just a power hitter.
Ichiro! Ichiro! Ichiro!
If you’re not tired of Ichiro! stories yet, this is a phenomenal read by Wright Thompson over at ESPN.com. Also, I took some time to talk about his return to Seattle on the Casey McLain podcast, which was only slightly less awesome then Thompson’s long form piece. Finally, the ex-Marlin officially signed yesterday to a one year deal with the Seattle Mariners for $750,000 plus incentives that could bring it up to two million. He was trademark low-key funny during his press conference announcing the deal.
No take-backsies
Speaking of ex-Marlins, a couple of former Fish players appear in Jim Turvey’s article for Beyond the Box Score that redistributes awards handed out during the height of the Steroids era to more deserving candidates.
Few can ball like the Harrison bros
Miami.cbslocal.com has a feature on the Harrison brothers and their journey to the professional levels of the respective sports they’ve embraced.
ICYMI at Fish Stripes
Andrew Meyer profiled Sandy Alcantara as the latest rotation candidate.
Got a Miami Marlins related story you think is worth reading? Submit to fishstripeswriters@gmail.com and if we agree, we’ll put it in our links!