Marlins Seeing Complete Package From Rookie Catcher Joe Mack

MIAMI — With each week, Joe Mack grows as a key piece of the Miami Marlins postseason puzzle. 

Joe Mack went 4-for-4 to lead the Marlins to a 10-6 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday and became the youngest catcher (23 years and 164 days) in franchise history to record four hits in a single game. 

Mack has unlocked his bat in June. The rookie catcher is slashing .391/.417/.565/.982 with one home run and seven RBI so far this month. The Marlins have also won six of their last seven games since the calendar turned. 

"Some of the takes, getting himself into better counts and just seeing him really slow things down in the batter's box," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "He is a talented offensive player, and I think once he got it himself, 20-25 plate appearances under his belt, just seeing some of the aggression toned down."

Mack was always seen as a defensive improvement in the catcher position the moment he was called up. He proved that again when he threw out his 10th runner on the season on Tuesday. 

Before Mack made his MLB debut on May 4, Liam Hicks and Agustin Ramirez combined to allow opposing base runners to steal 42 bases in 45 attempts, which was the most in MLB. Their 93.3 percent stolen base percentage against was the second-worst in the big leagues as well. 

Against Mack and Hicks, the Marlins brought that ranking down to the sixth most in MLB. Opposing base runners stole 23 bags (11th) in 35 attempts (6th), good for a 65.7 stolen-base percentage. 

“It’s more than just a reputation,” McCullough said. “I think that part has really helped our run prevention side of things and helped a lot of our pitchers as well.” 

Against Mack specifically, opposing baserunners are 16-for-26 (62%), which gives him a 38 percent caught stealing rate. For context, the league average was just 24.3 percent entering Tuesday. He has a caught stealing above average of 3, which is sixth among MLB catchers. The league leaders, Milwaukee’s William Contreras and Philadelphia’s JT Realmuto, are only ahead by two in that regard. 

Throwing out baserunners is an aspect of catching that Mack said after the game is “my favorite part of my game.”

“I’m hoping they steal. I’m like ‘please run, please run,’” Mack said. “I know my ability to throw people out and get a guy off scoring position and save the pitcher some pitches and help him go out there for the next inning. It’s a lot of fun to be able to do that. I genuinely want them all to run.”

Catching is different in Miami compared to the rest of the league, as the aspect of calling pitches is now a duty of the coaching staff. However, the security that the catcher can eliminate a threat on the base paths has been very helpful for pitchers. 

Max Meyer, who remains the only MLB starting pitcher without a loss, said that as Mack is getting his feet wet, he is in a good place because “he knows the game, he's able to hose runners.”

“It's awesome having a guy back there that can do that,” Meyer said, “and takes off a lot of pressure for the pitchers, too, in innings, when you know that if they steal, there's a really good chance that he's probably going to get hosed.”

The Marlins will try to win their third straight series on Wednesday while hoping their patched-up rotation holds. Ryan Gusto (0-1, 10.80 ERA) will go against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Ryne Nelson (2-4, 4.60 ERA). Tyler Phillips will make his third start of the season on Thursday. 

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