With Promotion, Griffin Conine Brings Energy, Potential to Miami Marlins

DENVER — In the midst of a season that has not produced a high number of victories in south Florida, the arrival of Griffin Conine provided a boost of energy for the Miami Marlins on Monday.

“He was so excited when he got in my office today,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said before the Marlins began a four-game series at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies.

“It just puts things in perspective. Sometimes, at this part of the season and you haven’t won a ton of games and not where you want things to be, you see him come in and super excited and smiling. You realize that there’s this guy who just accomplished his dream. It was a pretty cool moment.”

The Marlins are hoping for plenty more “cool moments” from Conine, who has been on the path to make an impact in Miami since he was acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays near the end of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

Not only did that trade set the table for Conine’s future in Miami, but also allows him to share a playing heritage with his dad, Jeff, also known by many as “Mr. Marlin” after his eight seasons (and two World Series titles) playing in Miami.

On Monday, the younger Conine admitted that 2020 trade still resonated in his thoughts today.

“I think about that a lot,” Conine said regarding the swap that sent Jonathan Villar to Toronto.

“Everything happens for a reason. I believe that. I never will know what my future would have held with the Blue Jays, but I think coming home is a great feeling, after you get past the fact that the team that drafted you dealt you away. Obviously they got a key piece that they wanted to make a playoff push, so I don’t think there’s any regrets there. I think it worked out for the best.”

As Jeff Conine stood inside Coors Field waiting for his son’s debut on Monday, he took a moment to explain his emotions.

“Overwhelming?,” Jeff answered when asked to explain his feelings before the game.

“You know, this is a lifelong dream of his, not necessarily mine. I told him early on, I said, “I don’t care if you ever pick up a baseball bat your whole life. I want you to do it because you want to do it, not because you’re expected to or everyone else expects you to.”

And is it more special for Jeff to see Griffin make his MLB debut wearing a Marlins uniform?

“In the grand scheme of things, a big league uniform is a big league uniform,” Jeff said. “But, obviously, we live in South Florida. My heart’s here for the Marlins. I work for the Marlins. Yeah, I would say it’s a little bit more special that he’s wearing that uniform right now than another.”

While Griffin Conine wasn’t in the Miami starting lineup on Monday, he did pinch hit in the ninth inning, striking out as part of Miami’s 3-2 loss.

As for the near future, Schumaker said that Conine’s first MLB start wouldn’t be too far away, especially with a four-game series dealing with the spacious Coors Field outfield that tests visiting players and their stamina.

“He’ll be off the bench today (Monday), and then I’m guessing he’ll get a start here in the next couple of days,” Schumaker said.

Monday gave Griffin Conine a chance to wrap his head around what it takes to be a big league player, something that he said he learned a lot from his father about through the years.

“There’s never been pressure from him,” the younger Conine said about his dad. “I think all the pressures come from myself and internal and being hard on myself. I think he helps balance that out for me, and never piles on with any of that.

“It’s mostly just trying to ease up and make sure it’s the same game and all of that. I think I heard that the most out of everyone. It seems like everyone I talked to, they kept telling me it’s the same game, so it’s about just trying to control everything.”

That’s exactly the approach Connor Norby, who also made his MLB debut earlier this season before being traded from the Baltimore Orioles to the Marlins, passed along to Griffin Conine when he saw him in the clubhouse on Monday.

“I told him, first of all, it’s the first day and your first game is kind of just like a just a whirlwind. You can’t really prepare for it,” Norby said. “You try to almost just survive the day. But I also told him to dumb the game down as much as you can. Simplify it to the extreme basics if you have to.”

It’s that simplification that could help Griffin Conine keep his momentum going after a strong Triple-A campaign. The 27-year-old Conine has been a tear this season, getting the call after slashing .268/.350/.475 with 19 home runs and 68 RBI in 385 Triple-A at-bats this season.

Back in June, right after he earned Just Baseball’s Minor League Hitter of the Week honor, he joined Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton and Jack McMullen to talk about his approach and season so far.

That approach was a continuation of some of the lessons learned by Griffin Conine during his first MLB spring training earlier this year.

“I think that set the tone,” Conine said of this year’s spring training experience.

“There were a lot of changes I wanted to make in the offseason, just with the swing mechanics, mental, a lot of things just simplifying. And I was pumped to be able to have a good spring and start well in (Triple-A) Jacksonville.

“Every season has its ups and downs. Battling through the lows and enjoying the highs and just trying to be the same guy every day, this is the biggest thing.”

That is just one of the lessons that Griffin Conine hopes to master as his MLB journey begins. However, while he may be a rookie at the big league level, he still has plenty of experience to draw upon growing up in the Conine household and around the game of baseball.

“I think mostly just about how to be a professional,” Conine said about his second-hand learning experiences. “Once you get here, there’s a way to go about business. We obviously have a lot of great guys in this clubhouse that set a good example. As far as the guys I grew up watching, I think they set an example for me, too, so I’m just trying to follow in their footsteps.”