While ‘soaking in every single second,’ Marlins’ Nick Fortes reflects on MLB debut

Nick Fortes wasn’t shy to admit that Saturday night was an emotional one for him. Of course there were going to be emotions. The 24-year-old catcher was making his Major League Baseball debut. He estimated there were close to 25 friends and family members in attendance at loanDepot park to watch his dream come to fruition just over three years after the Miami Marlins selected him in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

“Indescribable,” Fortes said after the game, a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, attempting to paint the scene of the night. “It’s been a long two days.”

Some nerves that he might have had subsided after his first plate appearance, when he sent the second pitch he saw from Bryse Wilson up the middle of the field for a groundball single with an exit velocity of 107.5 mph. He then had arguably the biggest at-bat of the Marlins’ night two innings later, sending an elevated sinker a projected 413 feet to left-center field for a two-run home run.

He rounded the bases and reflected on the journey.

“I had goosebumps and chills down my spine,” Fortes said, “all the way around the bases.”

Since arriving in Miami on Friday along with fellow rookie catcher Payton Henry, Fortes has been trying to soak in the moment, come to grasp with the thought that he is actually here at the big-league level.

He, like Henry, has a two-week trial period to give the Marlins’ front office and coaching staff a glimpse at what he might be able to offer the club in the future at one of the main positions the Marlins will be evaluating this offseason.

Saturday was a pretty good first impression.

After a shaky first inning behind the plate that included a wild pitch and a passed ball, Fortes helped top Marlins pitching prospect Edward Cabrera settle in. Cabrera worked around traffic all four innings he was on the mound, holding the Pirates to three unearned runs (one in the first on the wild pitch and passed ball combo and two more that scored on a two-out fielding error in the fourth) while striking out a career-high seven.

That in addition to his two hits (and another hard-hit groundout in the seventh inning).

“Obviously at the plate he looked good,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Basically it seemed like he hit everything hard. ... Edward was a lot to handle early with some pulled balls, but I thought he looked good.”

First-year Marlins general manager Kim Ng on Friday called Fortes “a guy who has a pretty good bat” who is also “good with the game planning, good working with the pitchers, caring about them and all that.”

“We’re hoping that shows through up here as well,” Ng said.

He hit .245 with seven home runs, 17 doubles, 44 RBI and 37 runs scored over his 95 minor-league games this year split between Double A Pensacola (57 games) and Triple A Jacksonville (38 games). He also struck out just 54 times in 378 plate appearances, a 14.3-percent rate.

“I’ve just been a lot more consistent at the plate,” Fortes said. “That’s what I’ve been happy with this year. My lows have never been too low and every time that I’ve kind of slumped or felt fallen off, I’ve kind of found a way to get back into the swing of things. I think that that’s been a big jump in my game this year, learning how to adjust and bounce back from failure, and I think that’s gonna be the biggest thing in the long run.”

It was enough to get him to Miami for the final stretch of the 2021 season.

His goals are simple enough: Play well, keep his at-bats simple and build a rapport with his pitchers.

And handle the emotions.

“I’ve been soaking in every single second and every moment being here,” Fortes said.