Brice Could Be Right For Marlins

MIAMI—The way righthander Austin Brice pitched on June 29 for Double-A Jacksonville, he could have been effective against a big league lineup.

That’s the opinion of Dave Berg, who spent seven years in the majors as a utility infielder and served as Suns manager in 2015.

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Brice struck out a career-high 13 that day and gave up only one hit—a single—as he pitched eight scoreless innings. During one stretch, he retired 20 consecutive batters, 12 of them by strikeouts.

He did all this against Biloxi, the Brewers affiliate that had ripped Jacksonville pitchers for 11 runs in the previous game.

“Austin has great stuff—the ball coming out of his arm is electric,” said Berg, who also coached him at low Class A Greensboro in 2013.

“He has a plus fastball, a plus curve and a really good changeup. This past season, he developed a slider, and that was a big pitch for him. He just played around with it, and it came natural to him.”

Brice, a 23-year-old who attended high school in Pittsboro, N.C., is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound righthander selected by the Marlins in the ninth round of the 2010 draft.

Miami added him to the 40-man roster in November, proof that the Marlins believe he’s a prospect worth protecting.
But the fact remains that Brice has mixed highs with lows, which is evident by his career 4.41 ERA. He went 6-9, 4.67 in 25 starts in 2015, striking out 9.1 and walking 5.0 batters per nine innings.

His biggest problem has been control. He has a career walk rate of 5.3 per nine.

“He is a little erratic,” Berg said. “He can get a little emotional (on the mound), but that (fix) will come in time with more experience, more maturity and more composure.

“Austin is still young. Age is on his side.”

FISH BITES

• The Marlins claimed lefthanded reliever Mike Strong on waivers from the Brewers in December. He recorded a 2.54 ERA with five saves at Double-A Biloxi in 2015 but struggled when promoted to Triple-A Colorado Springs.

• The Marlins lost seven players in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft: third baseman Zach Cox, first baseman Viosergy Rosa, lefthanders Chipper Smith and Alex Burgos and righthanders Enderson Franco, Felipe Gonzalez and D.J. Johnson.