Stone-cold robbery by Marlins prospect
It was "Florida Man Night" on Friday at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, appropriately sponsored in part by a local law office, since Stone Garrett willfully robbed Max McDowell in front of 6,946 witnesses.Despite the reigning Southern League Player of the Week's heroics, Double-A Jacksonville dropped a 3-1 decision to
It was "Florida Man Night" on Friday at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville, appropriately sponsored in part by a local law office, since
Despite the reigning Southern League Player of the Week's heroics, Double-A Jacksonville dropped a 3-1 decision to Biloxi. But the game will be remembered for what may be the catch of the year.
With two outs in the second inning,
"When it came off the bat, I thought, 'That's probably a home run,'" the 2015 eighth-round Draft pick said. "I started running, felt myself on the warning track and just knew, 'This is gonna hurt.' Thankfully, I didn't run into the wall.
"There's this one kid, directly behind me in the field. He's caught more home runs and foul balls this year than anyone. After I caught the ball, I looked back and he's just shocked."
Gameday box score
Garrett noted that honing his defensive skills has been a focus over the past couple seasons.
"Going into last year, my weakness was defense," he said. "I started with taking shagging during [batting practice] more seriously, taking better routes to the ball. It's a rhythm thing.
"This is the second time this year I've taken away a home run. All my friends, they're blowing up my phone right now, saying I'll be on SportsCenter."
Biloxi broke open the game with a three-run seventh, highlighted by
Jacksonville avoided the shutout in the eighth as 24th-ranked Marlins prospect
Although he went hitless Friday, Garrett is batting .342 over his last 10 games and posted a career-high five-hit effort on July 19 against Chattanooga.
"I'm just trying to be on time for the fastball and use the whole field," he said. "The team is hot and hitting is contagious. I'm seeing the ball really good and guys are in scoring position, and that puts pitchers in a bind.
"I've talked to some of our pitchers for what they try to do when attacking opposing hitters -- what they'll throw here, what they'll throw in certain counts, parts of the game -- and it's helped. I've also talked with the hitting coach [Sean Berry] the most I've talked to a coach in five years of my career."
Thomas went 2-for-4 with his 10th homer of the season, while
Mahan and
Duane Cross is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @DuaneCrossMiLB.