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What Will the Marlins Opening Day Lineup Look Like?

ByKevin Kraczkowski|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: Jorge Alfaro #38 of the Miami Marlins runs out his second inning home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field on September 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: Jorge Alfaro #38 of the Miami Marlins runs out his second inning home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field on September 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 14: Jorge Alfaro #38 of the Miami Marlins hits a two run home run against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning at Oracle Park on September 14, 2019 in San Francisco, California. The Miami Marlins defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-2. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)

(7) Jorge Alfaro C

Jorge Alfaro will swing at anything, no apologies. He’s still a reasonably productive backstop, with a .262/.312/.425 slashline. He hit 18 homers last season with 57 RBI, playing in 130 games for the Marlins.

With a full season, Alfaro’s a good bet to challenge for 20 home runs. He’ll continue to provide average defense along with a slightly above average kill-rate on runners trying to steal. He put up a 33 percent CS rate in 2019.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 29: Isan Diaz #1 of the Miami Marlins. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

(8) Isan Diaz 2B

Isan Diaz was more miss than hit in his first major league look starting in late-July last season. He ended up turning in a .173/.259/.307 slashline, with 59 strikeouts in 201 plate appearances for a 29.4 percent K-rate. On the other side of the ball, Diaz was smack-dab in the middle of National League defensive second basemen, worth one DRS above average.

But the Marlins are counting on Diaz to pull a rabbit out of his hat and rediscover the hitting stroke he showed at Triple-A through the first 2/3 of the 2019 campaign. He had a beautiful .305/.395/.578 line through 102 games, with 26 home runs and 70 RBI.

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The truth of Diaz is somewhere between the former and the latter, let’s just hope its more of what the last iteration of the New Orleans Baby Cakes were party to.

  1. Jon Berti CF
  2. Miguel Rojas SS
  3. Brian Anderson RF
  4. Corey Dickerson LF
  5. Jesus Aguilar 1B
  6. Jonathan Villar 3B
  7. Jorge Alfaro C
  8. Isan Diaz 2B

How different are the Miami Marlins going to look like on 2020 Opening Day from the 2019 version? By this account, only three will survive from one year to the next in their prior form – Alfaro, Anderson, and Rojas. We’ll have to see how Spring Training goes, but this is my bet from the cheap seats right now.

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