Our Noticias, 4/6/20: Dave Van Horne interview; Mattingly lets loose

Quiz Across the Pond

I greatly enjoyed this new trivia concept from Marlins fan Peter Pratt! The first-ever “Quiz Across the Pond”—livestreamed on Twitch Sunday afternoon—included 40 total questions (all multiple choice), ranging from easily identifiable players to hyper-specific achievements that even die-hards would be guessing at.

Peter intends to continue doing this while the 2020 season is delayed. To request particular dates/times, contact him on Twitter or leave a comment on the article and we can relay it to him.

Best Minor League Team Name Tournament

@Diamond_Digest/Twitter

We have seen that the baseball industry finally respects the depth and upside of the much-improved Marlins farm system. Now, will their creatively named Minor League Baseball affiliates get the votes they deserve?

Diamond Digest created a MiLB team name tournament. The Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, High-A Jupiter Hammerheads, Low-A Clinton LumberKings and Short Season A Batavia Muckdogs all made it into the 64-team field. The Hammerheads and Muckdogs have been placed in the same bracket region, so unfortunately, an all-Marlins Final Four won’t be possible.

Voting is already underway!

Walk-off links

• Manager Don Mattingly doesn’t operate any personal social media accounts, but courtesy of his wife, Lori, we can see that he is eschewing his clean-cut reputation and embracing a greasier, low-maintenance look.
• From Locked On Marlins, Aram Leighton unpacks the consequences of beginning the MLB season with a 29-man active roster (rather than the 26-man rosters team had been expecting under normal circumstances).
• Sunday’s Sev & Geff Live featured Hall of Fame broadcaster Dave Van Horne. Plenty of entertaining stories, as you might imagine.
• Outfielder Magneuris Sierra is preparing to celebrate his 24th birthday on Tuesday! Over a not-so-nice 69-game sample for the Marlins, he owns a .225/.256/.257 slash line with only six stolen bases in 11 attempts. However, he had flashes of productivity last September.
• Veteran catcher Ryan Lavarnway—who’s with the Marlins for 2020 on a minor league deal—has partnered with Pro Baseball Insider to film an extension training program for aspiring catchers. Well suited for these difficult times considering you don’t need in-person contact with him to access the full benefits of it.
• 2020 season simulations from Baseball-Reference and Strat-O-Matic each have the Marlins getting off to a solid start through 10 games.

• Tuesday marks the sixth anniversary of our beloved José Fernández making his MLB debut. Treat yourself to this Pitching Ninja montage of his extraordinary slider.