Lindstrom lands himself in Marlins' closer mix

JUPITER, Fla. -- Only time will tell if Matt Lindstrom wins a roster spot or emerges as the Marlins closer. However, he does have one distinction among all the pitchers in camp.

The right-hander is the hardest thrower among the group. Playing in the Puerto Rican Winter League this offseason, his fastball was clocked at 102 mph.

An expression that has been tossed about in camp is: Lindstrom can throw a marshmallow through a battleship.

The 27-year-old was acquired from the Mets in November. The deal brought Lindstrom and reliever Henry Owens to Florida for pitchers Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick.

"I'm really enjoying it," said Lindstrom of now having a chance to win a spot in the back end of the bullpen. "There are a lot of young guys here, and a lot of good arms here. It should be nice to see if I can make the team. I don't care if it's as a sixth, seventh or eighth-inning guy. If it's the closer role, that's fine, too. Whatever they decide."

Hampered by a stress fracture a few years ago, Lindstrom credits his rehabiliation with the Mets.

"It's really attributed to what the Mets did for me after I had a stress fracture," he said. "I saw a physical therapist and I got stronger. I started throwing harder."

Before experiencing the stress fracture in '05, Lindstrom was throwing 95-98 mph. The righty said that he had velocity but lacked command, meaning the ball would go all over the place.

"Last year, I maintained my velocity every time I went out," he said. "I was throwing 97-100 every time out. Now I can drive the ball down in the zone."

Lindstrom's second pitch is a slider, which is clocked between 85-88 mph. He's developing a split-finger pitch, which he calls a "slurve." It reacts like a sinker at 87-88 mph.

Lindstrom says he is confident throwing his slider, because he was taught a different grip by a pitching instructor he worked with in Puerto Rico. Lindstrom doesn't know the full name of the instructor, who is known as "Mambo."

Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez liked what he saw from a number of pitchers on Monday.

Some pitchers who caught his attention were Gaby Hernandez, Sean West, Chris Volstad and Lindstrom.

"One hundred miles per hour," Gonzalez said of Lindstrom. "You don't see that very often. [The Mets'] Billy Wagner comes to mind. The thing I was impressed with today is he has a big power arm, but his command was real good."

The early front-runners to close are Lindstrom, Kevin Gregg, Taylor Tankersley and Owens.