Mar 1, 2014 7 min read

An overlooked candidate in the competition for the Milwaukee Brewers first base job sent two big reminders he’s in the running.

The quiet Juan Francisco can leave quite the impression at the plate. He hit solo home runs in consecutive at-bats against the Athletics this week in the Brewers’ spring opener.

“When he squares up balls, it doesn’t matter what part of the park” that he hits it, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “Only a handful of guys have his kind of power.”

Like the 502-foot homer Francisco crushed in 2011 as a member of the Cincinnati Reds that cleared Great American Ballpark. It’s still impressive to watch replays of that blast.

“Nah, I’m not that powerful … No, no,” Francisco said Friday, blushing after being relayed Roenicke’s praise.

But the left-handed slugger has never found a comfortable home. The strikeouts hurt.

Traded at midseason from Atlanta last season, Francisco was moved from third to first to try to fill the hole left by the injury to Corey Hart. Francisco ended up hitting 13 homers with 32 RBI in 89 games for the Brewers, hitting .221 with 95 strikeouts.

Not good enough to start regularly down the stretch, let alone ensure a spot in 2014. The Brewers signed veterans Lyle Overbay and Mark Reynolds to minor league deals with designs that they might also be potential options at first.

Francisco went back to his native Dominican Republic in the offseason and played winter ball, where he said he worked on getting rid of a hitch in his swing. According to Roenicke and hitting coach Johnny Narron, Francisco was trying to get away from a leg kick and working on keeping both hands on his bat.

Whatever he did, it worked on Day 1.

“I have to keep working,” Francisco said.

Marlins embrace big ballpark: While the team continues to study the possibility of moving in the fences at Marlins Park, new hitting coach Frank Menechino wants to take advantage of the spacious dimensions to invigorate an anemic offense.

“We got a big ballpark and we should use it to our advantage with the nice line-drive approach,” said Menechino, whose task is to improve an attack that in 2013 was last in the majors in batting average, runs and home runs.

The Marlins will continue to monitor how the ball is carrying in the park, which is 344 feet to left, 355 feet to right and 418 feet to center. But it’s the power alleys (386 to left-center, 392 to right-center) that should produce a slew of extra-base hits.

Team president David Samson said the size of the field has helped the Marlins more than it has hurt them in the stadium’s two seasons and that the organization wants to consider at least one more year of data before making any changes.

“All of us only remember when John Buck flies out and everybody says, ‘Oh, God, we would have won that game,’ and Tommy Hutton loses his mind on TV,” Samson said.

“Then when there’s a fly ball that Giancarlo Stanton catches and Steve Cishek is on the mound and gets the save, everyone is, ‘Good game … Phew!”‘

K-Rod reports: Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez has reported to spring training after acquiring a work visa and leaving an unsettled situation in Venezuela.

Rodriguez had been trying to get out of Caracas since signing a one-year contract with the Brewers on Feb. 7.

Rodriguez’s girlfriend and his two children came with him. They left an area that has been affected by the deaths of anti-government protesters in his native country.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke says Rodriguez wasn’t able to do much in the way of baseball activities because he was worried about leaving the house.

Roenicke said Saturday that missed time isn’t a concern for Rodriguez. The 32-year-old reliever was traded from Milwaukee to Baltimore last July.

Mets’ Parnell faces first batter: New York Mets closer Bobby Parnell threw batting practice Saturday, facing batters for the first time since his 2013 season was cut short by a neck injury.

Parnell last pitched in a game on July 30. He missed the final two months of the season and had surgery Sept. 10 to repair a herniated disc in his neck. The right-hander threw 36 pitches to David Wright, Daniel Murphy and Eric Young Jr.

“You work all offseason throwing bullpens with no batters in there and it seems like you can’t miss a spot,” Parnell said. “You throw a hitter in there and it becomes 100 times harder. It feels good to get out there and face some guys, face some hitters and find the strike zone with some intensity turned up. It was a nice feeling today.”

Parnell said he was able to keep the ball down and didn’t feel any discomfort in his neck or right arm.

“I’ve been taking a lot of baby steps,” he said. “I feel great, my arm feels good, neck feels good. Everything’s going well. But as far as today, this feels like a big mental hurdle. I didn’t know how I would react to balls coming off the bat and I felt strong out there. I felt good and felt like I had some reaction in the neck, so everything’s good.”

The Mets are being cautious with Parnell, but he is currently scheduled to throw a second batting practice on Tuesday.

He said he’ll throw at least one more batting practice session before getting into a game.

Greinke receives treatment:

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke was scheduled to undergo treatment after straining his right calf after four pitches during his first spring training start.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was hopeful Greinke could throw a scheduled bullpen session Saturday.

“It all depends on how things go today,” Mattingly said Friday before the Dodgers played the Chicago White Sox.

The Los Angeles medical staff diagnosed the strain as mild following Thursday’s injury. Greinke, the Dodgers’ No. 2 starter, did not limp when he walked through the clubhouse Friday. He did comment about the injury.

Niese experiences discomfort:

New York Mets left-hander Jon Niese says the discomfort he feels in his throwing shoulder probably stems from focusing too much on strengthening his rotator cuff.

He was on the disabled list from June 21 to Aug. 11 last season with a partial tear in his rotator cuff.

“This offseason that’s pretty much all I was working on,” Niese said Friday. “I neglected the other things. So everything was at an imbalance.”

He complained of a dead arm after throwing live batting practice early this week and was sent to New York for an MRI. The test Thursday revealed some muscle weakness but no structural issues. Niese expects to be ready to make his second straight opening day start.

“The shoulder blade is going at an awkward position,” he said. “That’s relaying up to my shoulder.”

Dr. David Altchek told him that was causing a pinching feeling.

Niese plans to throw off flat ground Saturday and work on strengthening the scapula muscle. He was scratched from his first Grapefruit League start next Tuesday against the Houston Astros and isn’t sure when he’ll return to the mound.