Phillies’ Whit Merrifield and Johan Rojas have solid day at plate against Marlins
Merrifield and Rojas, who had gone hitless in his last four games, both went 2-for-3 in a tie on Saturday.
JUPITER, Fla. — It was a brutally hot and humid Saturday in Jupiter, Fla., where the Phillies played the Miami Marlins in a Grapefruit League game that ended in yet another tie (3-3).
Here are a few takeaways:
On the mound: Kolby Allard made the start on Saturday, pitching 1⅔ innings. He allowed three hits and one walk with two strikeouts, throwing 37 pitches, of which 26 were strikes. Max Castillo did the bulk of the work, pitching three innings, and allowing three earned runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.
“I thought he was better in the second inning, a little more efficient,” said manager Rob Thomson of Allard. “Ran his pitch count up a bit in the first inning. But he’s a guy, when he locates, he’s tough. His curveball is good, his secondary pitches are good.
“Castillo was good. It was really hot, so I think the third inning he maybe got a little tired. But he’s a strike thrower. Changeup is really effective. Locates his fastball, gets some soft contact.”
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Who stood out: Whit Merrifield and Johan Rojas both went 2-for-3 on Saturday afternoon. Merrifield drove in two runs. He is batting .385/.385/.846 through 10 Grapefruit League games with a 1.231 OPS.
Rojas had gone hitless in his last four games but had a good day at the plate on Saturday. In his first at-bat, in the top of the second inning, he hit a triple that came off his bat at 106.4 mph and traveled 367 feet. He hit a single in the top of the sixth inning that was also a hard hit (with an exit velocity of 100.1 mph).
“The triple was good,” Thomson said. “I thought our at-bats were pretty good up and down the lineup. [Brandon] Marsh had two really good at-bats. Merrifield had a couple of hits. [Alec] Bohm hit the ball on the nose three times but nothing to show for it. And Kody Clemens continues to swing the bat well. So, all in all, it was a pretty good day.”
Quotable: “I felt good,” Allard said of his outing. “It’s been a little with that whole sickness thing going around, I hadn’t seen the mound in a while, but they battled me a little bit in the first inning and got the pitch count up a little bit but I settled down and felt like I executed better in the second.”
Allard added that he missed a turn due to illness but threw a live BP on the backfields recently and should be good to go for the start of the season.
On deck: The Phillies will play the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday at BayCare Ballpark at 1:05 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 94 WIP)
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Extra bases
Catcher Cam Gallagher was scratched from Saturday’s game because he took a ball off the knee on Friday night in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Phillies have had some bad injury luck with their catching depth recently. Garrett Stubbs had a foul ball hit off of his foot against Detroit on March 13. When he left the facility he felt fine, but it got sore throughout the night, so the Phillies decided to have him stay in Clearwater, Fla., as a precaution. Aramis Garcia took a foul ball off of his foot, as well. Thomson said none of the catchers are seriously hurt; they’re just sore.