MIAMI -- There are many lessons to be had for rookies in the Majors. That includes etiquette when dealing with home-plate umpires. Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. received a tutorial with the help of a trio of teammates in Tuesday night's 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays at loanDepot park.
During his at-bat in the third inning, Chisholm wasn't shy about how unhappy he was with Laz Diaz's strike zone. Behind 2-0 in the count, Ross Stripling fired a pair of pitches high and outside that were called strikes to even the count. Chisholm was visibly frustrated, making his displeasure known between those offerings. He stepped out of the box, shaking his head and trying to compose himself. Stripling then missed in a similar location, but it was called a ball.
When Chisholm swung and missed on a four-seamer that painted the outside corner, he threw his bat and helmet before flipping his ankle guard in frustration. Miguel Rojas went to check on Chisholm. Center fielder Starling Marte put his arm around Chisholm, who was still exasperated heading back to the dugout to retrieve his glove. As that happened, Jesús Aguilar chatted with Diaz to put space between him and the rookie infielder to prevent an ejection.
The frustration dated back to Chisholm's first at-bat, when a four-seamer well off the plate was called a strike. That plate appearance ended in a groundout. Over his past nine games entering Wednesday, Chisholm is 5-for-36 with 12 strikeouts. Despite all this, Chisholm didn't let it affect him on defense, as he made a nice play for the first out of the fourth.
"With younger guys, you want to make sure they -- No. 1 [know] how to talk to the umpires," manager Don Mattingly said. "Those guys are human, they are going to react depending on how you talk to them. I think Miggy and Marte and Agui were trying to get him to settle down. Jazz does have a good eye. He knows when the balls are off, so I think it's frustrating for him when they miss calls on him.
"But again, we've got to help him communicate better, because you don't want him to have that reputation or anything like that, because guys are going to react. Laz has been around a long time. We're just trying to help Jazz learn how to talk to these guys, but also I wanted to make sure what Laz was thinking, because I didn't see him doing anything and I felt like Laz kind of went after him a little bit."
Ready to go
With the Marlins trailing 2-1 in the ninth, Marte reached on an infield single. But he was caught stealing for just the second time in 12 chances this season with Aguilar, Adam Duvall and Rojas due up.
According to Statcast, catcher Reese McGuire had an exchange of 0.61 seconds and the benefit of a 96.4 mph fastball from Jordan Romano to retrieve. Marte had a sprint speed of 27.5 ft/sec (27 is average, 30 elite) and a secondary lead of 20.1 feet, which allowed McGuire's throw from his knees to nab the baserunner.
"He's definitely got the green light there and trying to get in scoring position," Mattingly said. "The math worked, it didn't look like he got a great jump. I think the time was OK with us to go, and we trust him, and just felt like he didn't get his best jump."
Searching for his swing
Rojas is 1-for-17 with three strikeouts since returning from the injured list on Friday. Eleven of the 14 balls he's put in play have been poor contact (under/topped/weak), according to Statcast. It's not totally unexpected, as Rojas made just two appearances for Triple-A Jacksonville after missing 18 games with a dislocated left index finger.
"I think health-wise, I haven't heard any complaints about him feeling anything," Mattingly said. "Defensively, obviously, he's been solid. I think at the plate, he's wanting to go get it a little bit, wanting to go get the ball, which, timing-wise, didn't seem as comfortable as I've seen him in the past. But I think that's just a matter of time. With more at-bats, he's going to end up letting the ball get deep enough and do what he wants with it."