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MM Weekly Recap: Miami Marlins Roster Taking Shape

By Ehsan Kassim

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We are only two weeks away from Opening Day. On this day in two weeks, the Miami Marlins will kick off their 2013 season going up against the Washington Nationals, in Washington.

As opening day nears, the Marlins roster is starting to take shape. The team’s best player this camp, Christian Yelich, is unlikely to make the team out of camp, as he has never played above Single-A and the Marlins don’t want to rush him. The Marlins have a couple of quality place holders in Justin Ruggiano and Juan Pierre to hold the fort until Yelich is ready.

Placido Polanco returning to the lineup gives the Marlins a sigh of relief, as he should be ready to play Opening Day, despite back problems he has dealt with last season and so far this spring.

Casey Kotchman seems to be running away with the first base competition, as his hot hitting has led to more playing time for him than his competitor, Joe Mahoney.

Mar 17, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins first baseman Casey Kotchman (18) connects for an RBI single in the third inning during a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The bullpen race is still too close to call and should become more clear as the spring dwindles down and more roster cuts are made.

Here is a look back at the articles that were posted on Marlin Maniac last week:

Game Recaps:

As you guys have noticed, each of our Marlin Maniac staff members have been doing game recaps after each game. Each game recap style has been a little different. We want the fans to get a different perspective from each game, from each writers unique game recap. Here are the recaps from last week:

Monday (3/11/13): Christian Yelich’s Heroics Push Miami Marlins Past Boston Red Sox

Tuesday (3/12/13): The Bad, The Ugly, and The Good: Miami Marlins vs Houston Astros Recap

Wednesday (3/13/13): Miami Marlins’ Eovaldi Stellar In Loss to Atlanta Braves, 2-1

Saturday (3/16/13): Christian Yelich homers again in Miami Marlins victory over New York Mets, 4-2

Sunday (3/17/13): The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Recap: Miami Marlins vs St. Louis Cardinal 3/17/13

Now we will take a look back at the main articles posted on MM last week:

 Ehsan Kassim:

  •  The Miami Marlins made their second rounds of cuts on Monday morning. The Marlins sent a total of 9 players to either minor league camp, or they were assigned to a level in the minors for the Marlins.
  • Prospect outfielder Jake Marisnick received bad news, as he found out after a second x-ray that his hand was fractured. He is expected to miss four weeks, including the first week of the season.
  • We continued on our MM top prospect list, which features Austin Brice as the Marlins 12th best prospect.
  • I received a great opportunity to interview Jason Collette of Baseball Prospectus a couple of weeks ago. Here is the transcript of our chat, which includes everything from Giancarlo Stanton to how the Marlins will do in 2013.
  • We took a look at another prospect, this time we had Adam Conley come out as the Marlins 11th best prospect in their farm system.
  • On Wednesday, the Marlins made the decision to send top prospect Jose Fernandez and recently injured prospect Jake Marisnick to minor league camp. Both players are expected to make an impact with the Marlins as early as late-2013.
  • The last prospect we looked at this week was Jacob T. Realmuto, the 10th best prospect in the Marlins farm.
  • After a few shaky spring starts it appears that Jacob Turner may be in danger of losing his rotation spot. The Marlins are extremely worried about Turner’s struggles in camp.
  • The Marlins sent left handed reliever Braulio Lara back to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Marlins selected Lara in the Rule 5 draft, but he was a longshot to make the Marlins team.

:

  •  In his Marlins Way segment, Placido wonders when star prospect Christian Yelich will be ready.
  • Spring training stats don’t mean anything, but Placido decides to take a look at them anyways, since that’s all we have for the 2013 season.

Fansided:

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  • Miami Marlins Steve Cishek has been catching eyes since his dominant performance in the World Baseball Classic. He has gone from a undervalued player to a household name because of his WBC performance.
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