WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Jesús Sánchez returned to the lineup and played center field in Miami's 2-1 Grapefruit League loss to Houston on Friday afternoon at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.  
 
With Opening Day a week away, game reps are few and far between for Sánchez, who had been dealing with intercostal soreness since Sunday. According to manager Don Mattingly, Sánchez also will start on Saturday night against the Nationals, and the club will play it by ear from that point on. There is no game on Monday, and Tuesday is the spring finale. 
 
"I think it's going to be reps, [which] give you experience, and we've been trying to keep him out there as much as we possibly can," Mattingly said. "They do a lot of work, even though he hadn't had a ton of action in the games. He's definitely getting a lot of work." 
 
Without a natural center fielder on the 40-man roster, the Marlins plan to use Sánchez at a position he hasn't played since 2019 at the Triple-A level. While the experiment came as a surprise at first, advanced metrics like outfielder jump (97th percentile), Defensive Runs Saved (5) and Outs Above Average (2) lend support to the decision. 
 
"One of the things that he does really well is his pre-pitch [routine] is like an infielder," outfield coach Keith Johnson said. "He plays foul balls, he's in-tune to the game. For him to move to center field -- for me -- it wasn't that big of an issue. ... The things that he does really well, he gets really good jumps on balls, he has good routes. We've been really focusing on finishing plays and smoothing out the back end of plays with him, because he gets to a lot of balls, but how he finishes them, sometimes people look at that and think that he's not as good out there as he really is." 
 
Sánchez did a good job of finding the warning track on the final out of the first inning, as he lightly bumped into the wall following the catch. In the fourth, second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. called off Sánchez on a shallow popup but had a rare drop. Sánchez quickly collected the ball and threw it to second. Jose Altuve lined out to Sánchez in the fifth for his final putout. 
 
Miami's outfield projects to be veterans Jorge Soler and Avisaíl García flanking Sánchez in center. On Friday, he played alongside utility player Jon Berti (left) and non-roster invitee Roman Quinn (right). 
 
"It's been a good experience in center field working hard with KJ, mostly with my steps," Sánchez said via an interpreter. "That's one of the things I've been working on, and just having soft hands."

Jack of all trades
Utility player Willians Astudillo got his first game action of the spring behind the plate, catching right-hander Cody Poteet during a scoreless eighth inning. A non-roster invitee, Astudillo has played every position except shortstop in the big leagues; he has 53 appearances at catcher, most of any spot on the diamond. Astudillo's previous organization, the Twins, had gradually turned away from him as a backstop option.

• Predicting the Marlins' Opening Day roster

"We're still talking about [the] third-catcher role -- if that's a role," Mattingly had said Thursday. "Sometimes that's a luxury. It's also a luxury that I've never used. In however many years I've managed, I've never got to that guy, because that means two guys got hurt in a game. So I just never got to that point, but it could happen, and it's nice to know who that guy's going to be."

He said it
"That's a lineup I've faced for a couple years now. They know me, I know them, so I feel like every time I face them, it's a good battle. I know they're a good team. But being able to go out there, especially after five days ago they saw me, and then going out there and having success again -- even without my best stuff -- I felt like it's definitely a confidence booster for me." -- Jesús Luzardo, who gave up just a leadoff homer to Altuve across 4 2/3 innings to cap his Grapefruit League season

Up next
Ace Sandy Alcantara will face Triple-A Astros hitters on a back field game at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on Saturday afternoon, while Paul Campbell will start the Grapefruit League contest against the Nationals at 6:40 p.m. ET at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Campbell is an option out of the bullpen with an expanded 28-man roster.