Get Excited: The Miami Marlins 2021 Opening Day Starting Lineup

Left Field

J.J. Bleday handled high-A pitching just fine after getting chosen fourth overall in the 2019 MLB Entry Draft, and will handle double-A even more fine next season. Bleday will make it impossible for Miami Marlins management to do anything but put him in left for 2021 Opening Day.

Right Field

Along with Chisholm and Diaz, Jesus Sanchez will prove that the future-vision of Jeter and company wasn’t just a shot in the dark. A full third of the 2021 Opening Day starting unit will be the result of the 2019 trade deadline acquisitions. The loss of Zac Gallen, Trevor Richards, Nick Anderson, Chris Vallimont, and Sergio Romo hurt at the time, but as we’ll come to inspect in tomorrow’s piece, the Miami Marlins aren’t hurting for pitching depth.

Currently the third ranked prospect in Miami’s system, and one-of-seven in the MLB top 100 overall, Sanchez is still just 21-years-old. According to the Pipeline:

"He (Sanchez) has a fluid swing and an innate ability to impact the baseball from the left side of the plate, and there are few within the organization who consistently hit the ball as hard as Sanchez. Scouts expect him to tap into more power as he gets stronger and learns how to lift the ball more consistently, but he will need to tone down his aggressiveness and become more selective along the way."

Center Field

Nearly forgotten in the shuffle of high-impact minor league acquisitions, Monte Harrison may prove to be the crown jewel of the Christian Yelich deal yet. Likely the best “pure” athlete in the Miami Marlins system, Harrison turned down a full-ride scholarship to play football in Nebraska to play baseball professionally in the Brewers system.

After coming over, Harrison led the minors with 215 strikeouts in 2018. He cut that free swinging rate down in 2019, but still whiffed about a third of the time. So yes, he strikes out as much as Brinson, but we can’t judge one player on the merits (or lack of merits) of another. Harrison remains the best bet in the organization to one day be a 30-30 player.

Fourth (and Fifth) Outfielder

Magneuris Sierra‘s performance in 2019 grew by leaps and bounds over his 2018 showing. Both at the plate and in the field were his advances plainly evident to anyone watching. Brian Miller could turn into the 20’s version of Brett Butler. Totally devoid of power, Miller may one day be a .300 hitter in the majors, and the dude can run. He’s stolen an average of 30 bases over the last two seasons, while getting caught about a quarter of the time.