Some Miami Marlins roster moves have now been revealed! I predicted some of this last year in fact, the news about Bryan De La Cruz that is. Before you continue, make sure you checked out the current MLB.com rating of The Fish's farm system. Opening Day is next week! That's almost hard to believe considering how long this off-season seemed to be at times, but it's about to take place and we will see just how good the team will end up being.
Big Miami Marlins decisions are coming by Opening Day!
The Miami Marlins have very high expectations for LF Bryan De La Cruz and expect him to have a breakout season. He himself says that he made adjustments to improve and he was phenomenal in the second half, batting .310. He's batting .244 in Spring Training. This is important as he has a Minor League option remaining and as you'll see it creates a roster crunch. Jesus Sanchez is out of Minor League options and it doesn't seem like a good idea to completely give up on him. He did hit 14 home runs in 227 AB in 64 games in 2021. He also batted .289/.385/.533 after his call-up after a demotion in the second half.
The plan seems to be to have them both on the roster. The Miami Marlins want to keep 13 hitters and 13 pitchers, so that means that either SS Jose Iglesias or 1B Yuli Gurriel will definitely have to be in the Minors to the start the season. Iglesias can actually form a platoon with SS Joey Wendle, with the righty hitting .291 against left-handers and .274 against right-handers throughout his career. The lefty Wendle is hitting .281 against right-handers and .230 against left-handers.
There's a possibility that Jordan Groshans will start the season in AAA, in fact it seems to be the most likely outcome at this point. In other notes, Jean Segura is not adjusting to third base very well, making 3 errors during Spring Training. Sandy Alcantara was upset that despite winning the NL Cy Young last season, and the WBC being in Miami he had to give up his preferred #22 when playing for the Dominican Republic.