'Little rough here': Pair of errors sinks Marlins

ATLANTA -- As the Marlins have continued their rebuild, they have constructed one of the fastest and most athletic teams in baseball. With that comes above-average range and impressive defense.

But all too often this season, mistakes have undermined their efforts. On Friday night at Truist Field, the Marlins committed a pair of crucial errors that contributed to their 6-2 loss to the Braves.

During the fifth inning, the Braves loaded the bases with two outs and the Marlins clinging to a 2-1 lead. Jorge Soler grounded a single up the middle off reliever Zach Thompson, but the Marlins compounded their misfortune when center fielder Bryan De La Cruz missed the ball and allowed all three runners to score. Adding insult to injury, Soler scored on the following play when third baseman Isan Díaz threw Freddie Freeman's soft grounder wide of first base, his sixth error in 522 innings this season.

“A lot of our inexperience kind of popped out of there,” manager Don Mattingly said. “I think De La in center was a little quick on that ball, just thinking that there's no play at home, just keep that thing and keep the guy at second. And then to play with [Díaz] was a tough play, obviously. But once you lose your balance, you probably would like to eat that one and just kind of keep the game in check right there. And it just kind of sped up and that [five-run inning] hurt as we never really recovered from that.”

Overall, the Marlins remain a good defensive team. They entered Friday ranking fifth in baseball in Defensive Runs Saved (54) and ninth in Ultimate Zone Rating (8.7).

And to be sure, there was strong play on defense on Friday. Starter Trevor Rogers put his glove on a grounder in the second inning, and shortstop Miguel Rojas was able to come in and cleanly field the deflection for an out. Meanwhile, Jazz Chisholm Jr. nearly came up with an impressive over-the-shoulder catch in center field that most second basemen wouldn’t have been able to make a play on.

But the Marlins also became the first team to reach 100 errors this season and made it 101 for good measure.

Part of the defensive struggles are by design. Out of contention for the playoffs, Miami is trying to figure out where players might be able to become more versatile. Díaz came up as a second baseman and is trying the hot corner for the first time. In addition, the Marlins have been trying out several players in center field since dealing Starling Marte at the Trade Deadline.

Still, all of that comes with growing pains, including 12 errors during the eight games Miami has played in September.

“We’ve been a little rough, honestly, lately, and we have been playing people in different spots to try to get information to our organization,” Mattingly added. “We're playing [catcher Jorge] Alfaro in the outfield. We're moving De La Cruz around. We're playing some different guys.

"But, again, you can't make excuses. We just seem to be making some errors lately. Overall, I felt like we've been a pretty good defensive club, but it has been a little rough here lately."