Pobody’s Nerfect: Four Takeaways From Miami Marlins ST Opener

We’ve been wishing for Miami Marlins baseball since late-September. Today we finally got what we wished for.

The Miami Marlins finally got back on the field today. The St. Louis Cardinals were the “visiting” team in front of 4,831 partisan fans in attendance.

Of the 66 players in camp for the Miami Marlins, 27 of them got into the game. What are some of the impressions they left us with? Here’s four.

Lewis Brinson Looks Better Than Last Season

Lewis Brinson worked two counts full, collecting the first Miami Marlins hit of the game in the third inning. It was a double. He then stole third and scored the Marlins only run of the game on a Miguel Rojas single. In the fifth inning, he drew a walk after starting the at bat against Chris Beck with an 0-2 count.

Brinson’s added patience at the plate is a sight for sore eyes. He’s still explosive, and now maybe he can boost his contact rate.

R.J. Alvarez and Brett Graves Need Some More Reps

Don’t be too hard on R.J. Alvarez and Brett Graves for their performance today. It’s still too early in Spring Training to make any blanket observations. Each of the two allowed five earned runs in 2/3 of an inning for bookend 67.50 ERA’s. They gave up a collected 14 hits, but hey, they didn’t walk anyone.

Sandy Alcantara Looked Great

We only got two innings to look at Sandy Alcantara, the centerpiece of the Marcell Ozuna trade with the Cardinals during last offseason. Alcantara made them count. He collected three strikeouts while allowing only two baserunners, on a walk and a hit. Thanks to a line-out 7-3 double play, he only faced one over the minimum.

Jorge Alfaro Will Run Through a Wall for This Team, Magneuris Sierra Will Not

In the third inning, Jorge Alfaro chased a popup foul ball towards the Miami Marlins dugout on the third base side. With complete disregard for his own safety, and running nearly full speed while Don Mattingly screamed at him, Alfaro crashed full tilt into a support post in his midsection. He went tumbling down, but soon thereafter rejoined the game. This is the kind of effort that is lacking in Magneuris Sierra‘s play.

"I always like to finish what I start. I want to keep playing. I want to show everyone that all of us are going to give 100 percent. I want to show everybody we are here to compete and win. – Alfaro, as quoted by Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald."

More from Marlins News

• Miami Marlins are pursuing Michael Conforto
• Miami Marlins need to spend to win
• Miami Marlins can’t afford to botch this trade
• Miami Marlins news: the New York Mets are a risky threat
• Miami Marlins keep missing out on stars

Sierra was brought up to the Miami Marlins before he was ready to see major league pitching last year. He’s plenty fast enough on the base paths, but he may as well be swinging a toothpick. I’d chalk this one up to first-game cobwebs, but Sierra didn’t show very much effort in the field either.

There were two plays on defense where Sierra could have tried a little harder. In the sixth inning, a blooper down the right field line was an easily makable play, but Sierra just kinda trotted over there and watched it bounce in front of him. In the seventh inning, a long fly ball carried back to the fence. Sierra didn’t make an effort to catch, instead watching as it bounced off the wall. He did redeem himself slightly by gunning down Max Schrock trying to stretch a double into a triple on the play.

Tomorrow, the Marlins take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at LECOM Park. Trevor Richards will get the ball for the first two innings.