Late-inning arms; Sixto's No. 73; Hoyt's slider

Veteran Brandon Kintzler has been a mainstay in the back end of the Marlins’ bullpen, converting nine of his first 11 save chances.

In Game 2 of Friday’s seven-inning doubleheader, Yimi García picked up his first save of the season in a 5-3 win over the Phillies.

Kintzler handled the sixth inning, but that doesn’t mean the Marlins are considering a closer change.

Postgame Friday, Marlins manager Don Mattingly explained why Kintzler worked the sixth and García the seventh. Kintzler was dealing with a fingernail issue, which caused a little bit of concern. So rather than use him in the seventh with no safety net behind him, the call was made to go with him in the sixth. Had he had any issues with the finger, the Marlins could have adjusted without the final outs being on the line.

“For the most part, Kintz has been our ninth-inning guy,” Mattingly said. “No reason to change that right now, other than last night, when you’re worried a little bit about the finger.”

“[Kintzler] has been pretty good in those situations, which allows us to use Yimi in maybe the seventh. We’ll match him with the part that we think is best for him to get it back to the ninth.”

The Marlins are confident with their main late-inning trio of García, Brad Boxberger and Kintzler.

Left-hander Richard Bleier is another potential candidate to handle any inning, including save chances.

“We do feel like all three of those guys, and even Bleier, if it’s the right team and the right matchups,” Mattingly said. “We trust him back there with the ball late. He’s an experienced guy also.”

Sixto explains jersey number
It’s no secret that Pedro Martinez was Sixto Sánchez's favorite player growing up, so much so that Sánchez even has No. 45 tattooed on his neck in honor of the Hall of Famer.

So why then, with No. 45 available for the Marlins, is Sánchez wearing No. 73?

“That’s the number I got in Spring Training,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “I’ve got to play a whole year with that one. Hopefully, I can get 45 for next year.”

Regardless of the number on his back, the Marlins’ top prospect will make his first start against his former organization in Sunday’s seven-inning doubleheader against the Phillies at Marlins Park.

Miami acquired Sánchez from the Phillies as part of the J.T. Realmuto trade.

“Of course, there’s some emotions there,” Sánchez said. “Since I got traded to the Marlins, I wanted to pitch against Philadelphia. Tomorrow, I get the chance. We’ll see. I’ve got to do my job.”

Hoyt’s slider
A quiet contributor in the Marlins' bullpen has been right-hander James Hoyt, who has been called upon to clean up situations with runners on base.

Hoyt’s most effective pitch is his slider, which he throws 61.1 percent of the time, according to Statcast. Hitters are batting .207 off the pitch, with an expected batting average (xBA) of .182. He has a 50.9 percent swing-and-miss rate on the slider.

Compared to a year ago when he was with the Tribe, the velocity of Hoyt's slider is down from an 84.3 mph average to 80.6 mph this season.

The difference?

“It’s always been a slider with a lot of depth,” Hoyt said. “I think this year, with having my velocity a little bit down, I’ve got to be extra careful with it.

“It’s got to be a good pitch. If I just throw it with the same spin every time, I feel like, as a hitter, that’s easy to adjust to. If I make a bad pitch, they’re going to make me pay.”

Roster move
Miami returned right-hander Robert Dugger to the alternate training site in Jupiter, Fla., after being the 29th man in Friday’s doubleheader. He pitched the final four innings of the 11-0 loss in Game 1 to save the bullpen.