Category: Marlins

AFL Mesa at Scottsdale 10.20.15

Notable Performances:

— Lefthander Adalberto Mejia, the Giants No. 12 prospect, had an up and down start. Right out of the gate Mejia struck out the side in the first inning and looked like he had great stuff.

But then he walked the bases loaded – his only three walks of the evening — and gave up a run in the second.

Overall, there was more good than bad in Mejia’s start as he finished five innings and allowed one run on one hit. He also struck out seven.

Best Plays:

— Jeimer Candelario, the Cubs 20th ranked prospect, is really making a name for himself so far in the Arizona Fall League. The third baseman was named co-player of the week after going 8-for-10 through the first three games, then made a nice play defensively Tuesday night.

Candelario fielded a hot shot behind the bag at third and after an initial bobble, made a strong throw across the diamond for the out. Really impressive arm strength.

— Marlins prospect J.T. Riddle made the play of the night with a diving stop up the middle. The shortstop made a nice stop on a hard-hit ground ball and turned what looked to be a hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

Riddle then homered in the next half inning. Read more about his night on MLBpipeline.com.

Best At-Bat:

— Indians No. 2 prospect Clint Frazier hit a massive opposite-field three-run homer in the third inning. Frazier is off to a great start in the AFL and has hit really well over the first two weeks.

— Candelario didn’t want to be outdone so in the sixth inning he hit a homer of his own. The Chicago farmhand hit a massive two-run shot to out to right that would have been gone in any ballpark.

Worth Mentioning:

— Pierce Johnson, the Cubs No. 7 prospect, had mixed results in his outing, similar to his first AFL start. The right-hander threw four innings and allowed three runs – the Frazier homer – on three hits. In the first inning it appeared Johnson was having trouble picking up the signs from the catcher so that may have been a cause for some of the struggles, but either way his stuff wasn’t crisp.

In the bullpen, Johnson said he didn’t have a good feel for his off-speed pitches and it looked like that carried over into the game.

Stanton’s The Focus, But Fiers Is Recovering Too

When someone is hurt, the sports world instantly shifts its focus to the injured player.

People always want to know the extent of the injury, the timetable for recovery and the impact the injury may have on the rest of the players’ career.

More often than not, we forget about the other players involved in the accident.

There is nothing wrong with expressing concern toward an injured player and hoping for a speedy recovery – in fact it’s what sports fans should do, but the injured player is not always the only one worthy of thoughts and prayers.

When Giancarlo Stanton was hit in the face with a Mike Fiers pitch in the fifth inning of Thursday night’s game, the baseball world was stunned.

Everyone was focused on Stanton, but what about Fiers?

Granted the Brewers right-hander didn’t take a fastball to the face and is physically ok, but when something like that happens you have to wonder about the player’s emotions.

There is no way Fiers was intentionally throwing at Stanton and Fiers was visibly shaken after the incident.

After the game he took to Twitter to express his remorse.

“I am deeply sorry about what happened tonight,” Fiers tweeted at Stanton. “I can’t imagine what you and your family are going through. My thoughts and prayers are with you at this time. I feel horrible and hope for a speedy recovery.”

In his post-game meeting with reporters Fiers was shaken and holding back tears.

After Stanton was carted off the field and the game resumed he missed his intended location – down and away – and instead threw a fastball up and in that hit Reed Johnson in the hand.

Understandably the Marlins were upset. First their star player was hit in the face, then the next man up nearly suffered the same fate.

Again, I am confident none of this was intentional and that the second high and tight fastball was the result of Fiers mental state.

After throwing a pitch off a players face and watching him leave the field in an ambulance it has the be immensely difficult to get back on the mound, focus on baseball and throw strikes.

I’d imagine that not only was Fiers not 100 percent focused on the next pitch, but that a situation like that may weigh heavily in the back of his mind the next few times he takes the mound.

While most of the attention has been centered on Stanton’s recovery – on Friday morning he tweeted “the amount of support I have received from you guys has been tremendous and heartfelt. I’m much better today and deeply appreciate your prayers!” – the baseball community should also take some time to think about Fiers.

Physical injuries are the only ones that land players on the Disabled List, but mental ones can have lasting impacts as well.