For a few moments on Thursday afternoon, Marlins right-hander Nick Neidert allowed himself to soak in his surroundings at Citi Field. The roar of the crowd. The public address announcer reading New York's lineup.
If the Mets' home-opening festivities weren't enough to get his adrenaline going, it also marked Neidert's first Major League start. Acquired from the Mariners in the Dee Strange-Gordon trade in 2017, it has been quite the journey since then. He became the Marlins' organizational pitcher of the year in '18, then underwent right knee surgery in '19 before dominating the Arizona Fall League. But in each of the past two springs, Neidert had been part of the rotation competition only to miss out on a spot.
Miami's No. 12 prospect did make last year's extended Opening Day roster out of the bullpen, appearing in one game before contracting COVID-19. Three of his four outings were scoreless, and all went for multiple frames. Neidert began this season at the alternate training site in Jacksonville, Fla., despite a strong Grapefruit League showing (2.84 ERA and 1.11 WHIP), then received the callup when Elieser Hernandez landed on the injured list with right biceps inflammation on Monday. With no timetable for Hernandez's or top prospect Sixto Sánchez’s return, Neidert finally will get his shot in the rotation.
"I was really excited to get an opportunity today," Neidert said during a Zoom call following Miami's 3-2 loss. "I always tell myself just be ready when the time comes to go pitch, no matter when that is, and to prepare and just be ready every outing. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to go out there and pitch today."
Neidert scattered three hits, five walks and three strikeouts on 85 pitches (50 strikes). He exited in the fifth after giving up a single to Francisco Lindor, who came around to score on Dominic Smith’s sacrifice fly against Ross Detwiler. The 24-year-old righty worked around trouble throughout his start, stranding seven runners through four.
After two quick outs in the third, he walked Lindor and Michael Conforto on nine pitches, sending pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. to the mound for a visit. Pete Alonso proceeded to pop up the first offering into foul territory for the final out of the frame. In the fourth, Taijuan Walker grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
Chad Wallach, who caught three of Neidert's four outings in 2020 and two of his five Grapefruit League appearances this spring, said the rookie would fall into a pattern of picking at the corners rather than staying aggressive and in attack mode. Still, he executed pitches when he needed to.
"He battled today," Wallach said during a Zoom call. "He would kind of lose it for a batter or two, but then he'd lock it back in for a few hitters in a row. I wouldn't say he had his best stuff today, but he really battled his butt off today and just pitched with some aggression and went after those guys. He did really well for us."
According to MLB Pipeline's scouting report, Neidert is more about pitchability than pure stuff, with a four-seamer that ranges from 90-93 mph and plays better because of sink and his deceptive delivery. In a strikeout of James McCann to end the second, he set a personal high for velocity in an MLB game with a 94.5 mph fastball. Neidert recorded 10 called strikes and whiffs with his four-seamer, and another six with his slider.
This spring, Neidert returned to the mechanics he used as a high schooler in Georgia, where he was selected in the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft. He believes it has helped with a velocity tick. It also puts less pressure on his right knee. Marlins manager Don Mattingly felt Neidert changed speeds, elevated pitches and caught both sides of the plate enough to be effective on Thursday. It's a start to build off of.
"Nick's one of those guys -- not going to be 96 or 97 [mph] where everybody's all excited and everything else," Mattingly said during a Zoom call. "But he is a guy that has a chance to have a good big league career and get plenty of outs with his stuff. We want him to continue to get better and improve, but the competitive side of that question is something you'd like to see, because that's what it's going to take to continue to get better, continue to improve and continue to develop. He's going to have to be competing all the time, and that's competing in your work, that's competing on your side day to be better, to get perfect. I like that competitive side."