Notes: Duvall in form, Pop makes case

This week, the Marlins have seen what free-agent offseason acquisition Adam Duvall can provide in the middle of their order. Duvall has homered in consecutive contests, including a solo shot to center field during the second inning of Thursday night's 7-5 loss to the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

The 32-year-old Duvall also tripled, drove in three runs and scored twice batting cleanup, his first time in that spot since March 3, when he knocked his first spring homer. The projected Opening Day lineup may begin with veterans Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte, Jesús Aguilar, Duvall and Brian Anderson as the Nos. 1-5 hitters.

"Just a power bat and a guy that's been coming and getting better over the last couple of years," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said during a Zoom call. "A guy that's a good defender, an all-around player. For a guy that's big, he runs pretty good. Good defender in the outfield and [has] power. I think that's what you get when you get him: You get a guy that's dangerous when he walks up there."

From March 5 until Monday -- a span of seven games -- Duvall went 1-for-18 with six strikeouts. All five of his hits this spring have gone for extra bases. The seven-year veteran recently changed his routine preparing for a game to include drills that put his swing in a better position. His bat path wasn't as clean as he wanted it to be, likely leading to unsatisfying results.

"I wanted to clean up my swing and the moves that I was making based on the video from the game feed," Duvall said during a Zoom call. "I'm always working on something. I enjoy watching film from the game and seeing what I did well and what I did wrong and trying to clean up those moves, so that I can be more crisp. And that's the goal."

Rule 5 Draft watch

Right-hander Zach Pop recorded a third consecutive scoreless Grapefruit League outing on Thursday, retiring Cardinals regulars Paul DeJong and Yadier Molina before allowing back-to-back hits to Justin Williams and Austin Dean. He stranded runners at the corners by getting a lineout off the bat of Lane Thomas.

Pop, who relies on a fastball-slider combination, reached a maximum velocity of 97.9 mph, with an average of 96.2 mph on his two-seamer. Both hits came off the fastball, which he threw 17 times (two whiffs, three fouls, four balls in play).

The club must decide whether to put the 24-year-old in its Opening Day bullpen or return him to the D-backs as a Rule 5 selection. There could be a numbers crunch with the active roster.

"He's got good stuff. This is legit stuff," Mattingly said. "This is not some guy on the borderline. His stuff is Major League stuff. This guy's going to pitch in the big leagues. Obviously, we haven't made decisions yet for this year, but this guy's got really good stuff."

He said it

"I think we were working ahead a lot. We tried to work on some things, and the times that I didn't execute, obviously I got hurt. They put really good swings on it. We tried to elevate a couple fastballs here and there and they weren't high enough, and then a few times we tried to go down and I missed up and got hurt with those two. But overall, I think we were landing a lot of offspeed, were landing them for strikes when we wanted to expand down with it, same thing with the breaking ball. I think I got a few strikes with it." -- Pablo López, on his fourth spring start in which he gave up three runs over 4 2/3 innings

Worth noting

On Friday's off-day from Grapefruit League play, right-hander Elieser Hernandez (projected No. 3 starter) and left-hander Braxton Garrett (Miami's No. 9 prospect) will start in an intrasquad scrimmage at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

Up next

MLB Pipeline's No. 15 overall prospect Sixto Sánchez will make his second spring start at 6:05 p.m. ET on Saturday against the Nationals at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Sánchez, who reached 100 mph and pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his debut, will continue to build up as he tries to make the Opening Day rotation.