Griffin Conine is doing his best to keep the Marlins relevant, and Duke fans have every reason to watch.
The Miami left fielder turned the week of Aug. 9–15 into a one-man power showcase, going deep three times across seven days and reminding the league he's one of the more dangerous bats in a rebuilding Florida lineup. On Sunday, Aug. 9 against the Angels, Conine went 2-for-4 with two home runs, three RBIs, two runs scored, and a walk — the kind of line that earns highlight packages. Three days later on Aug. 12, he was at it again against the Pirates: another home run, two hits, one RBI, three walks, and three runs scored. That's three home runs in a week's worth of work, with a batting average that climbed as high as .279 mid-stretch.
By Saturday, Aug. 15 against the Reds, Conine added another hit and an RBI to close the week, finishing the seven-game stretch sitting at .273. For a Marlins team that has struggled to generate offense, the Blue Devil alum has become one of the lineup's few reliable power threats.
A Fellow Blue Devil Holds Down the Hot Corner
Conine isn't the only Duke product in the Miami infield. Third baseman Graham Pauley has been working through the lineup's depth chart, and while his numbers don't jump off the page — he's batting .196 — he's shown flashes of situational value. On Saturday, Aug. 15, Pauley went 1-for-however-many with two RBIs against Cincinnati, giving him back-to-back games with a hit to close the week (he also singled on Aug. 14). He picked up another hit on Aug. 13 against Pittsburgh as well.
Pauley's role is clearly complementary at this stage, but having two Duke alumni sharing a Miami dugout — both contributing in the same week — is a rare and notable footnote for Blue Devils fans tracking their own in the bigs.
The Other Blue Devil Worth Watching
Further afield, Rangers center fielder Evan Carter quietly strung together a productive stretch of his own. Carter recorded hits in four of his five games from Aug. 11–15, including a game where he scored a run in a Rangers win over the Angels on Aug. 13. His average sits at .195, and consistency has been elusive — but the talent that made him a top prospect is visible in the contact rate during this stretch.
The week's big picture for Duke in MLB: Conine is the story, full stop. A three-homer week is the kind of stretch that turns heads in any lineup, let alone one anchored to a team scratching for wins in South Florida. If the power surge holds, the former Blue Devil is making a strong case that his bat belongs in a big-league lineup for years to come.
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