Miami Marlins RTD: Spring Training Questions

Morning Marlin Maniacs.  Once a week, the staff here at Marlin Maniac sits down to pull some questions out of a hat that concern everyone’s favorite baseball team.  The answers?  While those get pulled from somewhere else, we list them below for your enjoyment

Avid readers are fully encouraged to submit questions they’d like to see the staff discuss via Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments.  They are also encouraged to come up with a better title than Miami Marlins RTD.  But until that day of deliverance, let’s get to the Round Table Discussion.

What Storyline Are You Most Interested In Heading Into Spring Training? 

Sean Millerick: Jared Cosart.  Feel it should be clear pretty quickly if his health issues are behind him, and am very curious to see how his control looks this Spring.  If he can return to his 2014 form, the Marlins might suddenly be looking at the second best rotation in the division.  If not, I have my doubts the rest of the cast competing for the last two jobs can capably cover two rotation spots.

Max Phillips: Who comes out victorious in the battle for the 5th starter between Edwin Jackson, Justin Nicolino, and Adam Conley. There really aren’t any major positional battles to monitor for the Marlins this spring with every position set, so the back-end of the rotation is an area of focus. It will be interesting to see if the veteran reclamation project can outshine the rise of the young guns. Personally I would love to see Edwin Jackson assert himself as a reliable arm who has begun to focus more on hitting his spots than throwing 100mph. The Jackson project screams Jim Benedict and he has shown in the past the ability to mold veterans into effective starters.    

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Eric Quiñones: Giancarlo Stanton and his hand. I want to know if Stanton’s hand is pain free after breaking the bone in his hand last season which caused him to miss most of the season. I want to know if he will be at full strength in Spring Training leading into the season. It’s clear that if the Marlins want to compete, Stanton has to be healthy and playing every game.   

Eddie Noy: Going to echo Max on this one, I’ll be looking to see how the rotation shakes out. I would go a bit further though, and argue that spots #3 thru #5 should be up for grabs. Personally, I’m pulling for the kids to get a shot, or at least a long look – Urena, Nicolino, Conley. We know where starting Edwin Jackson leads, and it’s not the playoffs.   

Next: Benedict or Bonds