Getting Ahead With The Curve

JUPITER, Fla.—In some ways, lefthander Michael Mader was a 10th-year freshman when he finally enrolled at local Chipola (Fla.) JC in the fall of 2012.

A native of Marianna, located on the Florida Panhandle, Mader starting “hanging around” Chipola camps at age 8.

“I saw him develop for all those years,” Chipola coach Jeff Johnson said. “When he showed up as a freshman, he didn’t have much of a breaking ball, and his fastball was only 84-88 (mph).

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“But he has worked really hard in the weight room and has matured physically and mentally.”

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Mader has gained 20 pounds of muscle in the past 18 months.

His fastball now ranges from 90-95 mph and typically sits 93. His strikeout pitch is an overhand curveball that comes in at about 75, and he also throws a circle-changeup that ranges between 81-84.

A supplemental third-round pick in 2014, Mader often has been compared with fellow Chipola southpaw Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks.

The 22-year-old Mader went 6-12, 4.73 in 27 starts at low Class A Greensboro last year, when he recorded a 1.41 WHIP and stuck out 5.5 per nine innings.

“I’ve been working on my fastball command on the inner half of the plate,” said Mader, who expects to start the season at high Class A Jupiter. “I want to make hitters uncomfortable, which will allow me to set up my other pitches.”

The Marlins are not entirely comfortable with their organizational depth of lefthanders. Beyond veteran Wei-Yin Chen and second-year starter Adam Conley, who looked sharp in big league camp, Miami would turn next to southpaws such as Justin Nicolino at Triple-A or Jarlin Garcia at Double-A.

“He’s an exceptional young man,” Johnson said of Mader. “He does things the right way.”

FISH BITES

• First baseman K.J. Woods ranked third in the South Atlantic League with 18 home runs in 2015, but he faces a stiff challenge with the jump to high Class A Jupiter, and its power-suppressing ballpark, this season.

• Conley went 4-1, 3.76 in 15 appearances in 2015, striking out 7.9 per nine, and he will line up as the Marlins’ No. 3 starter behind ace Jose Fernandez and Chen.