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Grapefruit Preview: Miami Marlins (split squad) vs. New York Mets

By Travis Honeycutt

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After a rare Spring Training off day, the first-place Miami Marlins are back in action today with a pair of split squad matchups in the Grapefruit League.

In addition to a 1:05 PM matchup in Jupiter against the St. Louis Cardinals, some of the Marlins will head north to Viera to take on the New York Mets at Tradition Field at 1:10.

Here is the Marlins (8-3) lineup for the contest with the Mets:

1. Jordany Valdespin, RF

2. Martin Prado, 3B

3. Marcell Ozuna, CF

4. Michael Morse, 1B

5. Justin Bour, DH

6. Adeiny Hechavarria, SS

7. Reed Johnson, LF

8. Donovan Solano, 2B

9. Jeff Mathis, C

Brad Hand, P

Hand will be on the bump for Miami, the road team. This start could almost serve as a tryout for Hand, who is out of options and potentially a trade candidate, as reports previously indicated the Marlins were considering trading a starting pitcher before Opening Day.

The Mets will counter on the mound with second-year hurler Jacob deGrom.

We’re about half way through the Spring Training schedule, so expect the starters to get a few plate appearances before being pulled for reserves. Since it’s a split squad game, the Marlins only have a few players on the bench, so it’s possible the starters will play most of the game. Miami’s other available bench players include J.T. Realmuto, Vinny Rottino, Scott Sizemore, Miguel Rojas and Tyler Colvin.

Miami brings relievers A.J. Ramos, Mike Dunn, Andre Rienzo, Pat Misch, Andrew McKirahan and Preston Claiborne with them to Viera.

The Marlins also trimmed their big league camp by a few players early Tuesday morning.

No surprises there. It was only a matter of when those prospects would be reassigned to the minors. The team still has 25 players to cut in the next three weeks, and will have a few tough decisions to make as April 6 inches closer.

A few things to note:

  • Dan Haren was stretched out to pitch four innings on Sunday, and Hand is still a sleeper for the rotation. So he’ll probably be out there for at least a few innings.
  • Dee Gordon, Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton and Ichiro Suzuki are all in the starting lineup for the Marlins other split squad game today against the Cardinals.
  • Both games can be seen live on MLB.TV (Cardinals and Mets broadcasts only; no Rich and Tommy, sadly)
  • The Marlins vs. Cardinals game will be tape delayed on MLB Network tonight at midnight EDT.

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