Nicolino strengthens his case to be 5th starter

Left-hander throws five scoreless innings vs. St. Louis

March 25th, 2017

JUPITER, Fla. -- Marlins left-hander continued to make his case for the club's fifth starter role with another stellar outing on Saturday at Roger Dean Stadium. In the Marlins' 1-0 win over the Cardinals, Nicolino threw five innings of shutout ball, giving up just three hits. He struck out three and walked one during his 71-pitch stint (49 strikes).
Making just his third start of the spring and sixth appearance overall, Nicolino did not allow more than one baserunner in any of his five innings of work. He has not allowed more than one run in any of his last five appearances, which includes three starts.
"Today was the first time we had success throwing back-door cutters," Nicolino said. "Even cutters into righties [and] away from lefties."
Nicolino breezed through the first inning, retiring the Cards in order, including a strikeout of Matt Carpenter to end the frame after just eight pitches. Carpenter struck out twice against Nicolino, who retired the first five batters he faced before giving up a single to Cardinals left fielder .
A leadoff double by to start the third inning didn't deter Nicolino, who set down the following eight batters in order before Tovar struck again for a two-out single in the fifth.
"The fifth inning I kind of ran out of gas a little bit, trying to do too much," Nicolino said. "Trying to overthrow my changeup, left it up a couple of times."
He said he is focused more on getting better rather than thinking about the decision as to who will be Miami's fifth starter.
"For me, every day is a new opportunity," said Nicolino, who said he has seen definite improvement this spring. "That's been my mindset since I've shown up, do whatever I've got to do and make it tough on them. The beginning of Spring Training was a little shaky. We were working some things out.
"But halfway through we made some adjustments with my mechanics and since then I've been very happy. The work doesn't stop. Tomorrow I'll be out there still working on it. There's some things I could have done better today."
Nicolino was 3-6 with a 4.99 ERA in 18 games last season for the Marlins, including 13 starts.