🦁

 


An outstanding debut for the newest Marlins Catcher Sandy Leon yesterday. Leon was given the chance behind the Plate after Jorge Alfaro was placed on the Injured List. Twice in as many Games, Don Mattingly yanked (no pun intended) a Miami Player from the Field who would later be placed on the I.L. On Sunday it was discovered Starling Marte had a fractured rib, an Injury he may have had for a while, but playing with it at an extremely high level. Marte was very hesitant, even adamant at times in wanting to stay in the Game. Starling "the Marlin" may have known an I.L stint was imminent and certainly did not want to lose a minimum of 10 days. Same with Alfaro, who clearly was limping in Atlanta after missing a few Games with Hamstring issues, and again wobbly on his feet after his massive Walk-Off hit against the Giants on Saturday. After beating out an Infield hit Tuesday against the Orioles, Mattingly also would not allow the red-hot Alfaro to continue. This openned an opportunity for the 32 year old Leon, a World Champion as a Backup Catcher (Who has seen Postseason playing-time) with the Red-Sox in 2018. As a matter of fact, Sandy Leon has been to the Playoffs 4 times, including last Season with Cleveland. Leon a Switch Hitter, signed a Minor League Contract with the Marlins in January. He had a solid Spring, hitting .333 with a .474 OPB, a pair of Doubles, and 5 Runs Driven In. Yesterday he picked up a pair of knocks in key moments from the Righthand side, scored the Game's first Run, and scorched a ball in his last AB from the Lefthanded Batter's Box. Leon has always been known as a Glove first Catcher and praised for his work behind the Dish. It showed in his Marlins debut, as he guided the young Trevor Rogers to his longest Big League Outing to date. The way in which Leon was setting up from the Baskstop Position caught my eye yesterday. The Marlins are in love with the 4-Seam Fastball up in the zone and/as we've seen Alfaro & Chad Wallach give extremely high targets when calling for that pitch. Leon was much more subtle when asking for the ball up, not giving away to early what the Marlins were trying to do, and possibly throwing opposing hitters off just a tad. Casi como un 'Leon' casando en la selva 😉. Let's Go Fish 🦁! 

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