Marlins Pitching: Who makes the rotation on Opening Day?

The decision on who makes the Miami Marlins starting rotation will be handed down soon by anager Don Mattingly. Will there be a surprise or two?

It’s not a decision I would want to make. The Miami Marlins pitching has been the talk of the Grapefruit League. Five spots, seven pitchers in competition. It’s been compelling, but it might also be gutwrenching. Who gets left out? Who moves to the bullpen? Who winds up in New Orleans to start the season?

This might be better than one of those 1990s night time soap operas we all watched as teenagers. Everything should change on Saturday when manager Mattingly and his coaching staff sits down and punches numbers, or in this case looks at the progress made over Spring Training. If Jose Urena is the only set starter as the ace of this staff, how will the shuffled deck look?

"“We’re having our meetings tomorrow, so we’ll probably get a lot more clarity,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said on Friday afternoon via MLB.com. “We’ll have a lot more clarity.”"

There may be some secrecy to the decisions made, Joe Frisaro added that Don Mattingly said that even if the players are informed, it doesn’t necessarily mean the club will announce the rest of the order publicly.

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There have been too many things to get excited about this spring. I for one want to know who is pitching and in what order they will start. For some reason, I am not set on Dan Straily being the team’s No. 2 guy. Could the work done by Pablo Lopez and Trevor Richards over the last month changes Mattingly’s mind from the start of camp?

"“The Marlins wrap up their Grapefruit League schedule on Sunday against the Cardinals at 1:05 p.m. ET at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Zac Gallen, who already has been optioned to Triple-A New Orleans, will start that game,” Frisaro wrote."

Then the waiting game begins.

Sandy Alcantara worked a minor league game on Friday night, showing more control and consistency on the mound. While the ineffectiveness of Wei-Yin Chen has been on everyone’s mind, I get the sense the righty’s control is still a question. The former St. Louis Cardinals’ farm hand allowed just two earned runs while striking out seven and walking one over six innings.

Chen is still a candidate for the bullpen. I cannot see him in the rotation after the solid work by the aforementioned pitchers and Caleb Smith.

"Per Frisaro, “On Saturday night against the Astros in Jupiter, Urena and Caleb Smith are scheduled to throw. And on a back field, Trevor Richards is scheduled to pitch in a Minor League game.”"