Sixto a fit for 'pen?; Pérez K's 5 with fake nail

JUPITER, Fla. -- With Marlins right-hander Sixto Sánchez already at 17 pitches following a scoreless seventh in Friday night’s 3-1 Grapefruit League loss to the Mets at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, manager Skip Schumaker elected to not send him out for a second inning of work.

Could that be a sign of things to come?

It would’ve been tough for Sánchez, whose pitch count was going to be around 30, to go back to the mound with only 13 pitches or so to spare. Schumaker also wanted to get righty Roddery Muñoz multiple innings as he possibly builds up as a starter.

“We're at the point in Spring Training where we've got to start figuring stuff out length-wise: guys go multiple innings, guys get in games,” Schumaker said. “I think you know where this is headed. They earned getting some innings, also. I thought Sixto did enough tonight, and we've got to figure out if we want him to go multiple one-inning spurts. That's always a conversation as well, and I'm not exactly sure, to be honest with you, if it's going to go one, two, multiple innings. I thought today was good, up to 96 [mph]. He was happy. I think we celebrate that and then move on.”

Since Sánchez is out of Minor League options, he must make the Opening Day roster. Considering his injury history of two shoulder surgeries and multiple setbacks, it might be easier to pitch out of the bullpen, because of the buildup and time it takes to be a starter.

“He recovered really well last time,” Schumaker said. “We'll see if he recovers well again. And he threw more velo this time around as well. So command was there, offspeed was there. Again, he feels good, which is probably the biggest thing for him, obviously, and for us. For him to come back and feel like he's ready to go is good. I think the next step: Is it multiple innings? What do back-to-backs look like? All that stuff. He has to check some boxes still, but overall pretty good.”

It takes two
It’s rare that every pitch will work for a pitcher on any given start, and Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez got a lesson in that on Friday night. Pérez, who exited his second spring start early last Saturday because his nail was cutting into his skin, wore a fake one for his third start.

Upon the recommendation of pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., he only threw his slider -- the pitch that had given him trouble -- once. So Pérez turned almost exclusively to his four-seamer (31) and curveball (17) in his 50-pitch outing. He also threw his changeup just once.

The 20-year-old allowed two runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and no walks. Without his slider and changeup, Pérez was able to get extra work for his new-look curveball.

“After my outing, I had a small conversation with my pitching coach, and he was very happy about my performance today,” Pérez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “We were talking about that specifically, of how to pitch that many innings with only two pitches and defending myself. I think it was very, very positive the fact that I got to work so many times with that curveball, because it's not one of my best secondary pitches, but getting to work on it, I can improve a little more.”

Opening Day lineup preview?
Following Thursday’s off-day, Schumaker put together a starting lineup that could very well be the one come March 28 against the Pirates at loanDepot park.

While the order is still to be determined, Schumaker does like the idea of Tim Anderson batting behind Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the cleanup spot.

“I want Jazz to play every day, and in order to do that, you have to get the right matchups lined up to make it difficult on the other side to [be] like, ‘OK, if I put in a lefty for Jazz, then he has to face three batters.’ So is [Jake] Burger in front of him? Is TA behind him? What does that look like? What kind of matchup is that? …

“By the way, [Anderson] looks pretty good against righties right now, too, so you never know what that's going to look like. But having a guy that really hits lefties well right behind Jazz in the five hole -- if that's where we end up putting Jazz, in the four hole -- is important to me.”

Up next
Left-hander A.J. Puk will make his third spring start on Saturday against the Nationals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET.