MIA 0, STL 5; Castano shines, but the offense doesn’t help

The final week of Spring Training has arrived. Usually, this is when we begin to see lots of veteran major leaguers in the lineup, and team performance is a little bit more indicative of what we might see during the regular season.

For the Marlins on Monday, Dan Castano got the start, and for the Cardinals, Jake Woodford was the man on the mound.

Dan Castano shines

After being DFA’d and clearing waivers earlier in the offseason, the Marlins invited Castano to Spring Training. The left-hander was solid when healthy in 2022 with a 4.04 ERA through the ten games (seven starts) he pitched.

Making his fourth Grapefruit League appearance of the year, Castano carved up the Cardinals, striking out four, not allowing a run, and only walking one. He topped out at 93.2 MPH, and aside from a couple of bad pitches, he hit all of his spots and even produced some swing-and-miss.

Even if Castano doesn’t have a clear fit on the Opening Day roster, the Marlins will be needing him as a swingman at some point. It was encouraging to see him mix all of his pitches with confidence.

Daniel Castano final line: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 65 NP

Cardinals strike first

After Castano was removed from the game, Steven Okert entered and that’s when the Cardinals it going. Okert issued a leadoff walk to Tommy Edman, then got Jordan Walker to put the ball on the ground, but Jean Segura made a bad throw to Arráez and the ball went into right field. Edman ended up scoring from first on the error and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

Okert then began to struggle. Walker stole second, Wilson Contreras walked, and Nolan Gorman hit an RBI single, which scored Walker and put runners on the corners. The Cardinals extended the lead 2-0.

Gorman stole second and that set the stage for Juan Yepez, who hit a sac fly. Okert was then taken out after allowing three runs.

Huascar Brazoban completed the inning for the Marlins, but not before throwing a wild pitch that advanced Gorman to third base. Dylan Carlson hit an RBI single that drove in Gorman and gave the Red Birds a 4-0 lead.

Steven Okert final line: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, 24 NP

Huascar Brazoban final line: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 13 NP

The fifth and final run came in during the seventh inning due to an A.J. Puk wild pitch that drove in Juniel Querecuto.

Game notes

• In today’s game, Jean Segura got two hits. Before his costly error, he also made a great play at third base on a ball that Juan Yepez hit at 98.7 MPH. Both of Segura’s hits came against Woodford. Luis Arráez had two hits today as well.

• Yuli Gurriel played, but went 0-for-2.
• Joey Wendle also went 0-for-2 and continues to struggle this spring (.125/.125/.188/.313 in 32 PA).
• The Marlins kept Cardinals top prospect Jordan Walker quiet as he went 0-for-4.
• Tanner Scott also threw in today's game. He didn’t allow a hit and struck out two.

What’s Next?

The Marlins will face the Houston Astros tomorrow at West Palm Beach. Jesús Luzardo will make his first start since the World Baseball Classic. For Houston, it’ll be Ronel Blanco, who has been really good this spring.