With restart comes roster decisions and need for flexibility as Marlins camp ramps up
Monte Harrison had an uphill battle to climb if he wanted to crack the team’s 26-man roster when spring training shut down two weeks before Opening Day. Fellow top prospects Jesus Sanchez and Lewin Diaz were already down in minor-league camp when everything came to a halt on March 12, which became the final day of team activities before the team’s three-week summer camp began on Friday.
A lot has changed between then and now.
So too, in turn, have their chances to make an impact early for the Marlins in what will be a 60-game sprint for the MLB playoffs.
With all the uncertainty that is sure to come with the 2020 season, the Marlins have to anticipate on relying on roster versatility — from players practicing multiple positions to top prospects getting a faster path to the big leagues if roster spots need to be filled due to injuries or positive COVID-19 tests — to get through the full slate.
That has been on full display over the club’s first three days of practice and will be prevalent throughout the rest of this three-week camp until the Marlins’ finalize their 30-man roster for Opening Day.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said the three-month break and the expanded roster to start the season — 30 players on the active roster have to be cut to 28 after 15 days and then 26 after 29 days — are opening some doors for players who might not have been part of the Opening Day roster had the season proceeded under normal circumstances.
“Obviously, we had to come back, see who’s healthy,” Mattingly said. “You have to get everyone ready because you don’t know what’s going to happen. ... There’s a few more decisions to make, but not a lot.”
Harrison, the Marlins’ No. 9 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline, is one of those decisions.
He was one of four top-30 prospects initially assigned to work with Miami’s main group of 42 players at Marlins Park and has impressed over the first few days. He showed a steady mix of contact and power during Saturday’s batting practice session, including a no-doubt home run to left-center field against Caleb Smith.
“This summer camp really puts him back into the equation with what’s happened over the last three months,” Mattingly said.
Joining him in the initial group of Marlins Park prospects were shortstop Jazz Chisholm (No. 3), right-handed pitcher Nick Neidert (No. 10) and left-handed pitcher Alex Vesia (No. 27). Chisholm, it should be noted, is one of three players primarily utilizing the Marlins’ home field who has not yet been seen at practice during the portions available for media viewing (outfielders Lewis Brinson and Matt Joyce are the others).
Two more of the Club’s top-10 prospects in Sanchez (No. 4) and Diaz (No. 7), who were originally scheduled to report to the team’s training facility at Jupiter’s Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, were at Marlins Park for practice on Sunday.
“We really expect over the course of the spring that we will probably mixing some guys down to get involved with game situations,” Mattingly said. “We expect to see some of these guys making that move down here at different times.”
It’s just another layer of intrigue and another way for the team to prepare as much as they can for the unexpected.
“There’s a method to what we’re doing,” Mattingly said. “Eventually, we can have everyone working here. ... Guys are here. It’s just a matter of getting it situated.”
