Marlins get a look at Anderson in center

JUPITER, Fla. -- It didn't take long for the ball to find Brian Anderson during his center-field debut in Tuesday night's 10-0 Marlins loss to the Mets at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Brandon Nimmo's fly ball easily found Anderson's glove for the first out of the Grapefruit League game.

From that point on, Anderson's defense had mixed results. In the second, he backed up an errant pickoff throw by Pablo López and quickly retrieved James McCann's RBI double in the left-center gap. But Anderson was unable to record the final out of the third and fifth innings. There seemed to be some miscommunication between Anderson and right fielder Avisaíl García, who lost Dominic Smith's blooper (xBA of .090) in the lights for an RBI hit in the third. On Francisco Lindor's RBI double in the fifth, Anderson perfectly tracked the ball (.930 expected batting average) but couldn't snare it at the warning track.

Overall, Anderson felt the reads were easier than in left and right. Center just requires more physically. And seeing as he's not a "burner" when it comes to speed (27 feet/sec, at MLB average), he needs to make sure he's doing the little things right like taking good routes.

"First ball of the game came to me, I was able to kind of get some of those nerves out of there," Anderson said. "You almost know it's going to happen at that point. It was good. I had a day to prepare. I was able to get some reps out there. It's just one of the things that I'm going to have to keep working at and keep putting reps in with [coach Keith Johnson], and he's going to keep helping me out, and we're just going to keep building from there. I'm not where I want to be, but if I'm going to go out there, I'm going to keep trying my best and keep giving effort and try to run down as many balls as I can."

Though it came as a surprise to see Anderson's name in center, Tuesday wasn't his first time there. In 2013 at the University of Arkansas, he took over for the team's struggling center fielder in a postseason game against Wichita State. During his collegiate career, Anderson also saw time in left, shortstop and third.

Nearly a decade later, that theme of Anderson playing around the field has resurfaced as the Marlins place an emphasis on favorable matchups and defensive versatility to maximize their offensive production. The left-handed-hitting Joey Wendle bolsters the infield, while the right-handed-hitting Jon Berti can play both the infield and outfield. Without a natural center fielder on the roster, Miami is experimenting with Jesús Sánchez out there, sandwiched between Jorge Soler and Avisaíl García.

A Gold Glove Award finalist at third base in 2020, Anderson has appeared at that position in 284 of his 433 big league games over the past five seasons. But from '18-19, he made 144 starts in right field, posting -4 Outs Above Average, six Defensive Runs Saved and 17 assists. Earlier this spring, Anderson appeared in left for the first time in his professional career.

"Andy's an athlete," Johnson said earlier in the day. "I think you can put him anywhere. Today, he's playing center field, just to see what it looks like. So we're just putting him out there and giving him some reps and some opportunities and going from there. It's just, 'Go out there and just be an athlete. If you make a mistake or whatever, just minimize the magnitude of the mistake and we'll figure all that stuff out later.'"

With Sánchez a little sore and backup option Berti starting at shortstop on Tuesday, manager Don Mattingly figured now was the perfect time to try Anderson out in center.

"The conversation really was simple," Mattingly said. "I told him yesterday that he was going to play center tonight, but it's like hey, we're not asking for him to be a Gold Glove center fielder. When you build your club this way, you know you're going to have some deficiencies in certain areas. So we're asking him to do the best he can, and that's all our guys. 'Be the best player you can be out there. Catch the balls you're supposed to catch. Don't try to do too much.'"