Sunshine State Spotlight: Disco faces Marlins, Collins catches no-no
MO2 unveils our latest Sunshine State spotlight. Among the headliners are Anthony DeSclafani of the Giants, who faces the Marlins on Friday, and White Sox catcher Zack Collins, who was behind the plate for Carlos Rodon’s no-hitter.
By Joe Frisaro @ManOn2nd
Man On Second Baseball constantly scans the MLB landscape, searching for players who have ties to the state of Florida and are making an impact.
These five have been singled for the latest MO2 Sunshine State Spotlight.
RHP Anthony DeSclafani, San Francisco Giants: A New Jersey native, DeSclafani previously pitched at the University of Florida before being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth round in 2011.
DeSclafani tops our list because the right-hander is starting on Friday night against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park.
DeSclafani, who turns 31 on Sunday, made his MLB debut with Miami in 2014. He appeared in just 13 games that year, with five starts. After the season, he was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds as part of the Mat Latos trade. Obviously, one that didn’t go Miami’s way.
Another fact of that trade is Chad Wallach was also included with DeSclafani to go to Cincinnati. Wallach, of course, is now on the Marlins’ active roster.
Nicknamed “Disco,” DeSclafani is off to a terrific start with his new team in San Francisco. In two starts, he’s 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA with 12 strikeouts and four walks in 11 innings.
The Marlins originally acquired DeSclafani in the blockbuster, 12-player deal with the Blue Jays in November of 2012. Miami received DeSclafani, Adeiny Hechavarria, Henderson Alvarez, Yunel Escobar, Justin Nicolino, Jake Marisnick and Jeff Mathis in the deal for Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio. Escobar was then flipped to Tampa Bay for Derek Dietrich.
White Sox C Zack Collins, University of Miami: Collins was part of history this week, catching Carlos Rodon’s no-hitter against the Indians.
Rodon flirted with a perfect game until his back foot slider literally clipped Roberto Perez’s foot in the ninth inning.
Rodon regrouped, and still pulled off the no-hitter.
A first-round pick of the White Sox in 2016, Collins now has the distinction of catching a no-hitter in just his 15th big league start.
A former University of Miami standout, Collins graduated from American Heritage High School in Plantation in 2013. He had not caught a no-hitter at any level before the other night.
“Yeah, huge milestone for me,” Collins said after the game. “There’s a ton of people who have said I would never catch in a big league game. I would just be a first baseman/designated hitter.”
Collins was on the bench last August when Lucas Giolito no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates. James McCann caught that game.
Collins credits McCann and Yasmani Grandel for helping his development.
1B/OF Pavin Smith, Arizona Diamondbacks: The 25-year-old enjoyed a special moment on Thursday night by hitting his first home run of the season. The drive to right came at the Washington Nationals.
A left-handed hitter who is seeing time at first base and right field, Smith was the seventh overall pick by the D-backs in 2017. He played collegiately at the University of Virginia, and his high school ball at Palm Beach Gardens.
DH J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox: Martinez, of course, is an established star and legitimate middle of the order power threat. He’s off to a hot start for the first-place Red Sox, hitting .378/.440/.867 with five homers and 16 RBIs.
Already this year, Martinez has had a three home run game.
Martinez, 33, played his prep ball at Flanagan High School, and collegiately attended Nova Southeastern.
Martinez was the American League Player of the Week for the week of April 5.
1B Eric Hosmer, San Diego Padres: Like Martinez, Hosmer is well established. The 31 left-handed hitting first baseman played at American Heritage High in Plantation, the same school as Collins.
Hosmer is hitting .340 with a 1.021 OPS, along with three homers and 11 RBIs.