JUPITER, Fla. -- Focus more, worry less.
Those are two objectives for Wei-Yin Chen as he turns the page after a disappointing 2016. For the most part, the 31-year-old on Tuesday made another stride forward, despite allowing two solo home runs in five innings in the Marlins' 2-1 loss to the Astros at Roger Dean Stadium.
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"Obviously, he gave up a couple of solo shots, but I thought he was good," manager Don Mattingly said. "I thought as the game went on, he was strong."
Derek Fisher homered to lead off the third inning, after Chen retired the first six he faced. And with two outs in the fourth inning, Yulieski Gurriel connected.
The homers aside, Chen was in command, pounding the zone. Of his 58 pitches, 40 were strikes. He allowed three hits and struck out six with no walks.
But the long ball has hurt Chen all camp. In 11 Grapefruit League innings, he's allowed eight hits, with four being home runs. In fact, all four runs he's allowed were solo homers.
Chen has struck out 10 and walked just one.
"I think he's probably more comfortable and just quietly going about his business," Mattingly said.
After his day was done, Chen got some advice from pitching coach Juan Nieves and backup catcher A.J. Ellis.
"They gave me some great suggestions," Chen said through his interpreter. "I'll try to work on what they told me."
Chen is seeking a bounceback season after going 5-5 with a 4.96 ERA in 22 starts in 2016.
"It was a bad year for me," Chen said. "I'm trying to get on top of a lot of things, and maybe it caused me to overthink a lot of things."
Making the transition from Baltimore to Miami meant Chen switched from the American League to the National League, where he now hits. There would be times he would be lifted for a pinch-hitter or replaced in the middle innings of close games.
"I'm supposed to think about the pitching part," Chen said. "I'm trying to focus on the pitching part and focus on how to get hitters out. That's all I'm going to think about."