Replacing Marte. Jazz’s hot start. Pitching update. 15 Marlins thoughts after 15 games

Fifteen thoughts on the Miami Marlins at the 15-game mark of the season, with Miami holding a 7-8 record and winning six of their last eight games. All stats and rankings are through games played Sunday.

Position player thoughts

▪ How will the Marlins replace Starling Marte if he misses extended time?: Marte, the Marlins’ starting center fielder, was removed from Sunday’s 1-0 loss against the San Francisco Giants in the middle of a two-out, ninth-inning at-bat with an apparent left side injury. An MRI on Monday revealed he has a non-displaced fracture in his 12th rib (left side). He will be re-evaluated after about a week, but replacing him for any amount of time won’t be easy.

The Marlins’ most logical options: Platooning Magneuris Sierra and Lewis Brinson in center with the occasional spot start from super-utility player Jon Berti, or shifting Corey Dickerson from left field to center and having Adam Duvall and Garrett Cooper be the primary corner outfielders. The first prioritizes defense. The second prioritizes offense.

▪ Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s fast rise: The electric rookie ranks ninth in all of baseball with a 1.126 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) and has shown a maturing approach at the plate during the past week. His defense has been solid at both second base and shortstop, too.

▪ Brian Anderson needs to get going offensively: The Marlins’ third baseman is hitting just .182 on the season, going 10 for 55 with 13 strikeouts. There are some situations where luck has not been on his side, leading to an at-this-point career-low .220 batting average on balls in play (his career average is 100 points higher, .320). For example, five of the seven balls he has put into play that traveled at least a projected 350 feet have been outs.

▪ Dickerson’s value up top: Among 20 players who have started as a leadoff hitter at least 10 times this season, Dickerson ranks seventh in batting average (.311). He has at least one hit in eight of his last nine starts and has scored at least one run or recorded an RBI in seven of those nine games.

▪ Duvall’s defense as beneficial as his offense: According to FanGraphs, Duvall is one of four outfielders who has already recorded at least three defensive runs saved this season. The two-time Gold Glove Award finalist is showing he can still contribute on that side of the ball along with his power bat (he leads the team with four home runs and 11 RBI)

▪ Cooper finding his rhythm: Cooper, who has started just 10 of 15 games this year, is hitting .209 with almost twice as many strikeouts (17) as hits (nine). He is in the bottom half of just about every major Statcast hitting category except for hard-hit rate.

▪ Jesus Aguilar’s on-base streak: Aguilar reached base in each of his first 13 games before going 0 for 3 on Sunday. Aguilar’s .411 on-base percentage is seventh among first basemen.

▪ Positive signs from Jorge Alfaro: The strikeout rate is still high (35.3 percent), but Alfaro is in the top percentile for average exit velocity (97.4 mph) and the 97th percentile for hard-hit rate (61.9 percent). His framing behind the plate has been steady, too, ranking in the 71st percentile among qualified catchers.

Pitching thoughts

▪ Top three of the rotation are pitching as advertised: Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Trevor Rogers are holding strong early. The trio has combined to a 3.08 ERA (21 earned runs over 61 1/3 innings) through 11 starts with 76 strikeouts against 23 walks.

▪ As for the other two spots...: More length is going to be needed. Nick Neidert and Daniel Castano are holding down the roles with Elieser Hernandez and Sixto Sanchez rehabbing with arm and shoulder issues, respectively. Neidert didn’t make it out of the fifth inning his first two starts. Castano has thrown six-plus innings twice in eight career MLB appearances.

▪ Yimi Garcia evolving into a closer: The Marlins are a perfect 5-0 when Yimi Garcia is the last pitcher to throw for them, with Garcia picking up two wins and three saves since April 10.

▪ Can the rest of the bullpen round into form?: Some bright spots have emerged. Dylan Floro, Ross Detwiler and John Curtiss have been steady. Anthony Bass has improved since being taken out of the closer role, too. But the Marlins need more from Adam Cimber, Richard Bleier and the Rule 5 duo of Paul Campbell and Zach Pop.

Overall team thoughts

▪ Competing in close games: Twelve of the Marlins’ first 15 games have been decided by three runs or fewer. Miami has won five of the past seven such games, including all three games that have gone into extra innings.

▪ Adapting with a short bench: The Marlins have carried a four-person bench for the past week after optioning Brinson to the alternate training site before the Mets finale that was ultimately suspended. Marlins manager Don Mattingly has adjusted to pinch-hitting and double-switching situations, although having an extra body on the bench would be beneficial.

▪ This next stretch will be critical: The Marlins play two games against the Baltimore Orioles at loanDepot park before embarking on a three-city, 10-game road trip against the Giants (Thursday through Sunday), Milwaukee Brewers (April 26-28) and Washington Nationals (April 30-May 2). With Miami teetering around .500, these next dozen games could loom large as the Marlins try to contend in the NL East.