“His calling card is the bat”: Norby’s first Marlins home run showcases his talent
Connor Norby may have belted his first homer as a Marlin on Saturday, but the first thing he brought up following a 14-2 loss to the Cubs at loanDepot park was an eighth-inning defensive play he was unable to complete at third base.
When the Marlins acquired Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers from the Orioles for lefty Trevor Rogers ahead of the Trade Deadline, they optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville to get reps at third base. Norby hadn’t manned the hot corner since summer ball in 2019.
Since being recalled on Monday, Norby has started at third base in each of his first five games. Though Norby robbed Isaac Paredes of a hit to end the seventh, he made a point to chat with infield coach Jody Reed about the aforementioned eighth-inning grounder. Norby made a nice backhanded play but first baseman Jonah Bride couldn’t pick his one-hop throw. While the position might be new to him, Norby doesn’t want to use it as an excuse.
This aim for perfection epitomizes the type of person that Norby is. It’s how he was raised in Minnesota before his family moved to North Carolina to begin his high school career. Norby remembers not having a good weekend at the plate as a 10-year-old and spending that Sunday night hitting for another two hours to figure stuff out.
“I’ve said it numerous times, but I look at the negative too often, because I am striving to be — it’s a dangerous road — because you try not to be a perfectionist in this game … but you practice that way, and you train that way,” Norby said. “My expectations for myself are through the roof, and nobody will ever have higher expectations than I do for myself. And you’re just trying to get as close as you can every day, and you’re trying to push the limit.”
With Xavier Edwards undergoing an MRI for his lower back (the results came back negative), manager Skip Schumaker inserted Norby into the leadoff spot. Though Norby flied out to end a seven-pitch at-bat in the first, he opened the fourth with a homer to break up a perfect game.
According to Statcast, Norby turned on an 89.9 mph fastball from All-Star lefty Shota Imanaga and sent it 417 feet to straightaway center at 104 mph. Two of his three career homers have come at loanDepot park, with the other coming on July 25 as a member of the Orioles.
“My approach is fastballs, middle-oppo,” Norby said. “It always has been, probably always will be. It just usually sets me up for success, and adjustability on the breaking stuff.
“That was a cool one for sure. This is my second one in this park, right? First one in a Marlins uniform, so that was cool. And that’s a far ways away. I kind of surprised myself a little bit on that one.”
Miami hopes to see more of that from Norby, who will be counted upon as a key piece for the organization moving forward. His four extra-base hits are tied for the most in Marlins history through a player’s first five games with the club.
The 24-year-old Norby continues to trend up. In his first full professional season in 2022, he knocked 29 homers. His 64 combined extra-base hits in 2023 were tied for eighth most among all Minor Leaguers. Entering Saturday, he had hit 19 long balls in 107 games this year between Triple-A and MLB.
“He hits the ball hard, hard as anybody,” Schumaker said. “Center field, the other way. When you have that type of power, the pull-side power is going to come the more he is in the league. But it’s tough to teach the middle-to-opposite-field power like he has. [He] made a really good play at third base as well. So he’s been playing good. He’s going to have some tricky plays there, because he hasn’t been there a lot in his career. The more he’s out there, the more he’s going to get used to playing third as well.
“The bat is his calling card. He’s going to be a really good hitter in this league for a long time because of how hard he hits the ball. He stays inside the strike zone. I know he punched out, but he knows the strike zone, knows it well, and I think he’s going to continue to grow as a hitter the more he’s out there and getting consecutive starts and at-bats.”
