Oller making strong impression with much-needed gem

SAN FRANCISCO -- Three games into his Marlins tenure, Adam Oller has shown how his intriguing stuff can play -- and stay -- at the big league level.

Oller put together his best start yet for Miami, tossing six scoreless innings in Friday's series-opening 3-1 loss to San Francisco at Oracle Park. The 29-year-old right-hander allowed only two hits and two walks, striking out a career-high eight batters.

"He can really spin the ball," manager Skip Schumaker said. "His fastball command was probably the reason the breaking ball was so effective … but the breaking stuff was outstanding. I thought the changeup was really good as well. Overall, just a really well-executed pitch plan and gave us a really good chance to win."

It was the first time this season that a Marlins pitcher had struck out eight or more batters in a scoreless start of at least six innings. Miami had 10 such starts in 2023, with Jesús Luzardo being the most recent to do so last Sept. 17.

The Marlins led 1-0 by the time Oller gave way to Mike Baumann, who pitched a scoreless seventh but loaded the bases in the eighth. Working with a taxed bullpen, Schumaker sent in George Soriano to face Matt Chapman, whose bases-clearing double with two outs put the Giants ahead for good.

Prior to joining the Marlins on a Minor League deal on July 10, Oller's only Major League experience had come with the A's from 2022-23. In that span, he ranked below league average in both whiff percentage and strikeout rate.

Early in his time with the Marlins, Oller has gotten more swing-and-miss. Taking into consideration the small sample size, Oller's 14 strikeouts combined in his last two starts were his most in a two-game span (previously 10 between July 25 and 31, 2022).

"He's got good stuff, and we knew that," said Nick Fortes, who has caught all three of Oller's starts with Miami. "It's just about him getting in good counts and getting into swing counts, and that all comes from getting ahead with strike one. He's done a good job of that lately, and it's been putting him in position to throw good swing-and-miss pitches."

Oller mainly attributed the change to his work in between starts, in which he's focused on throwing quality strikes and executing his pitches. It also helped that he was dueling the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner in Blake Snell.

"There's the added, like, getting to throw against Snell, who punches [out] the world," Oller said. "[I was] trying to keep up a little bit."

Oller ended up matching Snell K for K on Friday night as he put together his second-longest appearance without allowing a run. Oller's career-best outing in that regard came on Aug. 27, 2022, an eight-inning, two-hit gem against the Yankees.

"I've gotten to go up against some of the big names out there, and it's always pretty fun," Oller said. "Just one, getting to toe the rubber with somebody like [Snell], but then also getting to watch how they throw, and then getting to compete against them. Obviously, he's a phenomenal pitcher, so it was a lot of fun tonight for me."

After a shaky team debut -- five runs in 4 2/3 innings on Aug. 19 -- Oller has stepped up for a Marlins team that needs pitching, earning his first win with the club last Sunday and putting his team in a good position on Friday.

The way Oller sees it, confidence can lead to results, and results can build confidence. For him, it also largely comes down to how he's felt since joining the organization.

"It's not a knock on any other organization I've been with, just to preface, but since I've been with Miami, I've felt very comfortable," Oller said. "I've felt very accepted. And that's something that leads to success.

"When you're feeling more comfortable with a team -- it's a great group of guys, the staff is awesome, Skip is awesome -- it definitely makes things a little less stressful. … It's already stressful throwing in a big league game as is, so taking that off of it and being able to just go out and compete makes things fun."