Jesús Sánchez, the Marlins' sixth-ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline, was named the Triple-A East Player of the Month for May on Wednesday.

Sánchez, who is a middle-of-the-order threat for Jacksonville, led Triple-A East in batting average (.410), slugging percentage (.771), OPS (1.214), hits (34) and total bases (64). He finished second in triples (three) and RBIs (21), ranked third in home runs (seven) and fourth in on-base percentage (.443). The 23-year-old also recorded five outfield assists, which was tied for the most in all of Minor League Baseball.

This hot start follows a limited Spring Training for Sánchez, who sustained a right groin strain and didn't have a normal buildup like others at camp. In 2020, he went 1-for-25 with two RBIs, four walks and 11 strikeouts in 10 games during his first taste of the Majors.

"He's in incredible shape right now, he's super strong, and he's sticking to his plan," Geoffrey DeGroot, the Marlins' director of Minor League operations, told MLB.com last month. "I think last year going up to the big leagues and having to go through those struggles up there that he did, I think prepared him all that much more for this season. I think he learned a lot from that, something he's never experienced before, and it kind of fueled his fire a bit.

"It's something that I think has given him a lot of momentum actually going into this year, because it's never happened to him before; [he's] never struggled, never been sent down. And I think he kind of took that and used it as motivation going into this offseason to kind of fuel his work. I just think he's in a great place right now, and hope he keeps it up."

Honoring a legend
Wednesday marked the inaugural "Lou Gehrig Day," a MLB-wide effort aimed at supporting charitable organizations working on ALS research. All players, managers and coaches wore a special "Lou Gehrig Day" patch on their uniforms while red “4-ALS” wristbands were available to be worn in-game.

• Everything you need to know about Lou Gehrig Day

The Miami Marlins Foundation is auctioning various Lou Gehrig Day baseballs signed by Marlins players and manager Don Mattingly. Proceeds will benefit the University of Miami ALS Center. The Marlins will host two doctors from UHealth -- the University of Miami Health System -- on June 13, and celebrate their work with a special in-game recognition.

"I think the awareness is great to bring it to light," Mattingly said. "It's Lou Gehrig's Disease, right? So it's something that has brought attention, but now that MLB is on board, it probably just heightens it. I think that's a good thing.

"Obviously, me playing in New York, I got to have a pretty good understanding of Mr. Gehrig's importance in the game and all the things that he accomplished, and, obviously, the famous speech. For me, it's like when you play in New York, you feel like you know those guys, even though you've never met them. And that's kind of a cool thing to be able to play the same position. But I think at the end of the day, just what I have learned, he would probably be proud that we're still bringing awareness to this disease and trying to fight it."

Mask off
The Marlins on Tuesday became the latest MLB club to reach the COVID-19 vaccination threshold. As a result, they were able to go without masks inside the dugout for the first time since before the pandemic.

Clubs were informed just before Opening Day that MLB and the MLBPA have agreed to relax certain health and safety protocols contained in the 2021 Operations Manual for fully vaccinated Tier 1 Individuals (players, coaches, managers and those in direct contact with those people) and for clubs where 85% of their Tier 1 Individuals are fully vaccinated. As part of that memo, players and staff were again strongly encouraged to receive one of the approved COVID-19 vaccines when eligible.

"That's actually a good feeling for us," Mattingly said on Tuesday.