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This is utterly ridiculous treatment of one of the best hitters the Marlins have had this decade. Caissie is 23. He hasn’t had remotely enough experience to determine whether he should be platooned. Blocked at the MLB level, Caissie spent the last two seasons, at ages 21 and 22, in Triple-A. He hit .251/.368/.414 against lefties in 269 PA, with a 30% strikeout rate and an 80/36 K/BB. That is, in fact, evidence that Caissie should be a two-way player. I think you can be a little concerned about his strikeout rate while acknowledging that he has done nothing to warrant being platooned out of the gate.
Caissie is in that platoon with Austin Slater, who was unemployed three weeks ago when the Tigers let him go. Slater, 33, has a reputation as a lefty-killer, but he hasn’t been that guy for a while. Since the start of 2024, Slater is hitting .195/.290/.300 against southpaws. The only skill that was keeping him on MLB rosters is one he doesn’t seem to possess anymore. Playing him over Caissie is nonsensical.
