Nick Neidert delivers best career start for Marlins. Now he might get a longer look

Nick Neidert, for the third time this year, rejoined the Miami Marlins on Wednesday for a spot start and, if everything went right, maybe something more. He was up in April and then back down, then up again in May before an injury and then back on July 8 — for precisely one game — before going back to Triple A Jacksonville once again.

It has been, Neidert admitted, “kind of tough,” but Mel Stottlemyre Jr. blessed him with a few words of wisdom before he delivered the best start of his career in the Marlins’ 3-1, 10-inning win against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.

“Stott told me tonight, ‘Don’t think,” Neidert said. “’Trust Sandy [Leon].’”

It’s one of the unsung benefits of each one of these stints he gets in Miami. However short they may be, they’re a chance not only to test himself against Major League hitters, but also glean wisdom from an accomplished pitching coach and veteran catcher.

Manager Don Mattingly pointed to Leon’s influence behind the plate and then Neidert did the same a few minutes later.

“Sandy’s really good about using all the pitches,” Mattingly said.

Added Neidert: “Once I have the changeup in play, I think it makes everything play a lot better.”

The 24-year-old rookie threw 79 pitches and completed five full innings for the first time. He held the opponent to only one earned run and did it against one of the hottest lineups in baseball. He got All-Star outfielder Juan Soto to ground into a double play to end the third. He struck out Nationals first baseman Josh Bell to end the first. All-Star shortstop Trea Turner went 0 for 3 against Neidert and grounded into two double plays, including the one at the end of fifth. Neidert left with the game tied and the Marlins eventually won in extra innings in Washington.

As Miami plummets further out of contention and the team’s focus shifts even further to the future, Neidert is in line to potentially get a serious look from Miami in the final months of the season, especially with its cache of rookie arms on innings limits and injuries piling up in the starting rotation. Neidert’s outing Wednesday was one of the most positive signs yet and helped the Marlins survive the loss of starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara, who was originally slated to start Wednesday before going on the bereavement list Tuesday.

Neidert gave up three hits and three walks in five innings, taming the crowd of 21,058 at Nationals Park throughout. He only struck out two and generated five whiffs, but he located his fastball and got 10 called strikes with it, and used all four pitches at least six times. Only one National got into scoring position with fewer than two outs against Neidert.

“I just want to do good wherever I’m at and if I’m pitching well in Jacksonville, I hope to get the opportunity here in Miami to pitch well, and when I’m here I want to pitch well and hopefully help my team to win,” Neidert said. “I try to leave that stuff that’s out of my control in their hands, and just pitch well and do my job well.”

Neidert got the call back to the Majors on Tuesday once the Marlins knew Alcantara wouldn’t make his regularly scheduled start. He had been their three other times this season and a handful of times last year, even making the Opening Day roster before testing positive for COVID-19 in the first days of the season.

“It just kind of ruined his year,” Mattingly said.

In the last week, a door has opened again for the No. 9 prospect in the organization, according to the MLB.com rankings. Starting pitcher Pablo Lopez landed on the 10-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain Saturday. Alcantara went on the bereavement list Tuesday. Miami, already with two other starting pitchers on the 60-day IL, was down to only starter left from its projected preseason rotation the pitcher — Trevor Rogers, a 23-year-old rookie and the Marlins’ lone All-Star — is having his innings monitored down the stretch.

“We’re going to get a chance to obviously look at some guys,” Mattingly said. “Guys are going to get experience. They’re going to get chances, so we’ll see where it goes.”

For Wednesday, Miami opted to give Neidert another shot, optioning outfielder Monte Harrison back to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to make room for the right-handed pitcher.

Mattingly doesn’t know how long this stint will last, but he knows Neidert could benefit from more consistency. Finally, he might be getting it.

“It can’t hurt,” Mattingly said. “This year’s been up and down on a yo-yo. It’s hard for those guys to get consistency when you’re doing that. He needed to do it, but it’s hard for those guys.

“Two years ago, this guy was one of the best pitchers in the [Arizona] Fall League. It’s just like since then he’s never really had a consistent shot, for whatever the reasons. Sometimes, you don’t control those, but he’s a guy you like to root for because he’s a good guy, he’s a hard worker. He just hasn’t gotten consistent chances.”

Sixto Sanchez has shoulder surgery

The Miami Marlins are hopeful Sixto Sanchez will be with the team when it opens the 2022 MLB season after he had surgery on his right shoulder Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Sanchez, who did not pitch this season because of a persistent shoulder issue, had his surgery with Dr. Neal ElAttrache to repair a capsular tear in his right shoulder and clean out the backside of the joint. The Marlins officially ruled out Sanchez for the season July 5 when they announced he would undergo season-ending surgery.

“We’re hoping that he’s with us Opening Day next year,” general manager Kim Ng said Wednesday before Miami closed out a three-game series against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.

Sanchez will be able to work out other parts of his body throughout the remainder of the year, but there’s no specific timetable for when he’ll be able to start throwing or working out his right arm, Ng said. The Marlins expect Sanchez to have a normal spring training and as he eyes a return next year.

The starting pitcher is still the No. 1 prospect in the organization and the No. 11 prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com, despite not pitching at all this season.

Even though he still has rookie eligibility remaining, Sanchez was one of the most impressive first-year players in the Majors last year, making seven starts and posting a 3.46 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks in 39 innings to help Miami reach the MLB postseason for the first time since 2003. He started two games in the 2020 MLB postseason, firing five shutout innings in a win against the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Series, then giving up four earned runs in three innings of a blowout loss to the Atlanta Braves in the Division Series.

The flashes throughout 2020 were enough to give Sanchez an inside track at a rotation spot and make the right-handed pitcher one of the preseason favorites for an MLB Rookie of the Year Award. Issues, however, arose right at the start of spring training, although they first had nothing to do with his health.

Sanchez missed the first few days of spring training when a visa issue delayed his return from the Dominican Republic, then a false positive test for COVID-19 forced him to miss a few days of camp in early March. He appeared in only three Grapefruit League games, throwing 124 pitches across eight innings, so Miami had him start the season at the alternate training site in Jacksonville to continue building up to eventually join the the Marlins.

Sanchez suffered his first major setback on the final day of March, on the eve of the MLB regular season, when he reported “slight discomfort” in his throwing shoulder after a simulated game. An MRI revealed “mild inflammation” in the back of his right shoulder. He threw from flat ground for about a month and a half before finally throwing another bullpen session in May, and Miami quickly shut him down again after he reported more shoulder discomfort.

The righty never threw another bullpen session, stretching out to as far as 120 feet before the Marlins shut him down for good earlier this month. Miami tried to avoid surgery for the 22-year-old, but too many setbacks eventually piled up and the Marlins felt it was necessary.

“You’ve got to look at the big picture and hope that he has a very, very long career,” CEO Derek Jeter said July 6, “and this is just a minor setback.”

Up next

Mattingly didn’t unveil his starting rotation for the Marlins’ upcoming series against the San Diego Padres, but rookie pitcher Zach Thompson is in line to start Thursday at 7:10 p.m. against the Padres when they return home to loanDepot park after a seven-game road trip.

San Diego also has not announced a starter for Game 1 of the four-game set in Miami.