Miami Marlins news: Opening Day notes

Opening Day came and went and the 2023 season is on the way! MLB.com hasn't been particularly high on the Miami Marlins and their projections can be seen as a bit underwhelming. That said, I see the Miami Marlins doing better than expected and things are certainly looking interesting as the season began. Rival teams have been hit with injuries and we now know exactly what lineup The Fish wil;l have to start the season.

Opening Day provided us with some interesting Miami Marlins related news.

Let's start with DH Jorge Soler. I've been pretty optimistic about him for this season, but I'm starting to question if I wasn't ignoring the downside with him. He's a free agent after this season (if he declines his player option for $9 million). He's currently making $15 million for this season (!), so he might be motivated to avoid the pay cut. That said, would a big year really lead to him making more than $9 million a year? I'm seriously questioning the possibility of that happening.

Jorge Soler will be batting fifth this season, after batting second during many Spring Training games this year. It may be a small thing, but this loss of confidence in him by the team (in my opinion) is telling early in the season. It's already making me question if he really will have the big year that I expected from him.

Miami Marlins division rivals are suddenly hit with a multitude of injuries. New York Mets ace Justin Verlander has a "low grade major teres strain". He's been placed on the 15 day injured list and it's supposed to be a non-significant injury, but is it though? It seems that the consensus is split on that, but any shoulder injury to a pitcher is alarming. Especially when that pitcher barely pitched from 2020-2021 and is 40 years old.

Another Miami Marlins division rival suffered an injury to their ace as well. Max Fried has a hamstring injury. He's also likely headed to the injured list and the severity of the injury is not yet clear. I never wish injury on any player, but it has to be concerning for those teams and potentially costing them a couple of wins.