Miami Marlins surprise us in Spring Training...

I talked about what batting order the Miami Marlins could have this upcoming season earlier, so it was interesting to see that I was right in my hunches. There were also some surprises along the way as well. There were some negative surprises as well, with injuries to three relief pitchers and the team's Spring Training record. Let's take a look at all of these issues and see what we can take from all of these news.

Spring Training brings a lot of Miami Marlins news to the forefront.

One of the things that stands out to me after five Miami Marlins Spring Training games is that Jon Berti has been getting a lot of playing time early on. He was even given lead-off AB's. I think that bigger bases can help Berti quite a bit, especially since he stole a Major League leading 41 in 2023. Berti won't be a starter this season, but is a great late-inning weapon off of the bench.

I predicted that Jorge Soler will bat high up in the batting order and he is... higher than I expected though. Soler seems to be The Fish's obvious clean-up hitter this season, but he's been consistently batting second so far in Spring Training games. I'm not sure if that's the most efficient way of using him, considering his consistently low OBP's and contact issues. I wonder if his power is enough to make it work at that spot.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. has seen time at both the lead-off and third spots in the batting order. I think that the best spot for him indeed third. Why? I think that he doesn't hit well enough for average to bat lead-off, but is good enough as a hitter to bat third. He was batting third in a recent loss to the New York Mets and went 1-3 with an RBI. He could have an MVP caliber year from that spot (yes I know that's optimistic).

The Miami Marlins have a 1-4 W-L record at the moment, but keep in mind that it's Spring Training and results don't matter. Teams try out different strategies and their Minor League players so a poor record doesn't necessarily mean that the team is going to be bad during the season. Good and bad Spring Training performances often don't carry ove rinto the season.