Marlins announce Opening Day roster

MIAMI -- There was some last-minute shuffling on the 26-player roster after a pair of trades on Wednesday, but the Marlins' Opening Day roster is set ahead of the season opener against the Pirates on Thursday.

Catcher (2): Christian Bethancourt, Nick Fortes
Manager Skip Schumaker recently said he doesn't anticipate a 50/50 split in playing time behind the dish as it was in 2023 between Fortes and Jacob Stallings. Newcomer Bethancourt received rave reviews and controlled the running game this spring, so he might have the edge. But Schumaker confirmed Fortes, who caught all 32 of Jesús Luzardo's starts last season, will do so on Opening Day.

First baseman (1): Josh Bell
Bell is back after exercising his player option. An underperformer in Cleveland (96 OPS+), the switch-hitting Bell turned things around (119 OPS+) following a Trade Deadline move to Miami. While Bell has appeared in at least 150 games each of the past two seasons, he hasn’t started more than 120 at first base since 2019. Expect to see Luis Arraez and Jake Burger also play first this season, giving Bell at-bats at designated hitter.

Second baseman (1): Luis Arraez
The two-time batting champion finished eighth in NL MVP Award voting, won a Silver Slugger Award and was the NL’s starting second baseman for the 2023 All-Star Game in his first year with Miami. Arraez also proved doubters wrong (4 DRS) as an everyday second baseman for the first time in his career.

Shortstop (1): Tim Anderson
Until signing Anderson, the Marlins didn't have a proven natural shortstop on the 40-man roster. Miami is hoping a healthy Anderson can bounce back after a rough 2023 and regain his two-time All-Star and '19 American League batting champion form.

Third baseman (1): Jake Burger
Like Bell, Burger came over in a Trade Deadline deal. Finally healthy for a full season, the 27-year-old slugged 34 homers and drove in 80 runs in a career-high 141 games between the White Sox and Marlins last year.

Outfielders (4): Bryan De La Cruz, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jesús Sánchez, Avisaíl García
De La Cruz finished with the second-most homers (19) and most RBIs (78) on the team in a career-high 153 games. Chisholm, meanwhile, finished one homer shy of a 20-20 season despite playing only 97 games. The center-field experiment saw mixed results for Chisholm, who recorded -9 Defensive Runs Saved, but 4 Outs Above Average. He was sidelined for a chunk of last season after running into an outfield wall, which led to him playing through turf toe for the remainder of the season. He looked much more comfortable this spring.

Sánchez appeared in a career-high 125 games and posted a 108 OPS+ in 2023. Schumaker noted De La Cruz and Sánchez came into camp knowing they are MLB players now and "want to be great." He went on to call Sánchez one of the club's better defensive outfielders.

The Marlins will rotate regulars at DH to get them off their feet, but the 32-year-old García, who has been limited to 135 games since signing a four-year contract ahead of the 2022 season, could get more of the reps there because of his injury history.

Bench/utility (3): Nick Gordon, Vidal Bruján, Jonah Bride
Jon Berti's departure in a trade to the Yankees opened a spot for the right-handed-hitting Bride, who joins fellow offseason acquisitions Bruján (a switch-hitter) and Gordon (left-handed). The trio has seen varied degrees of success in the Majors.

Starting pitchers (5): LHP Jesús Luzardo, LHP A.J. Puk, LHP Ryan Weathers, LHP Trevor Rogers, RHP Max Meyer
The rotation has a different look behind Opening Day starter Luzardo because Braxton Garrett (general left shoulder soreness), Edward Cabrera (right shoulder impingement) and Eury Pérez (mild right elbow inflammation) had setbacks this spring. Schumaker announced Puk, Weathers, Rogers and Meyer will follow Luzardo. Meyer, who ranks as Miami's No. 3 prospect, hasn't pitched in an MLB regular-season game since July 2022 due to Tommy John surgery.

Relief pitchers (8): LHP Tanner Scott, LHP Andrew Nardi, RHP Anthony Bender, RHP George Soriano, RHP Sixto Sánchez, RHP Bryan Hoeing, RHP Declan Cronin, RHP Burch Smith
Injuries to right-handers JT Chargois (neck spasms) and Calvin Faucher (right shoulder impingement) opened up spots, as did righty Huascar Brazoban's visa issues.

After three years of setbacks, Sánchez made the Opening Day roster as one of camp's most pleasant surprises. The final spot didn't go to non-roster invitee Vladimir Gutierrez or Anthony Maldonado (Miami's No. 19 prospect), rather the recently acquired Smith.