MIAMI -- All-around performances like Jorge Soler's on Friday night don’t happen often. Just ask the Marlins slugger, whose effort elicited “MVP” chants from his teammates. 

Soler went deep and made two highlight-reel plays in right field as the Marlins held off the Mets, 2-1, while sporting throwback teal uniforms at loanDepot park. 

Part of a club that is hoping for multiple bounceback candidates this season, Soler is toward the top of that list. After signing a multiyear free-agent contract in March 2022, he was limited to just 72 games due to bilateral pelvis inflammation and lower back spasms. Prior to the season-ending injury, Soler was on pace for 30 homers -- something the power-starved Marlins lineup could’ve used. 

“He’s a middle-of-the-order bat,” said manager Skip Schumaker, who was pushed in a laundry cart while being doused with celebratory drinks following his first managerial win. “We need him to go. There's no sugarcoating or anything. That's just real. We need him and [Avisaíl García] in the middle with [Garrett] Cooper to keep going. He's had some really good at-bats the first two games. Soli just showed that he's just not a DH. It's OK to play him in the outfield and he's a good outfielder, and it gives other guys days at the DH spot to get that kind of half-day off, which we're looking for.”

Entering Friday, Soler had made 353 of his 470 Major League appearances in the outfield in right. Last season, however, he spent a career-high 57 contests in left despite just seven appearances there from 2017-21.

During Spring Training this year, Miami experimented with García and Soler in both of the corner-outfield spots. Because Soler feels more comfortable in right because of the better reads he gets, that’s where Schumaker placed him on Friday after serving as the designated hitter on Opening Day.

Since his rookie season in 2014, Soler has accumulated -44 defensive runs saved in right field. Of 60 Major Leaguers with at least 1,500 innings in right field since ‘14, his -44 DRS is second worst behind Nick Castellanos (-54).

Soler made an immediate impact by robbing Pete Alonso of extra bases to open the second inning. He raced into the right-center gap and lunged for the ball, which had an expected batting average of .590. Soler then homered against lefty David Peterson in the bottom half of the frame to support Jesús Luzardo, who went 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

Through two games, Soler is 3-for-8 with one double and one homer.

“It was a great play out in the outfield,” Soler said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “I took that feeling back to the plate. The pitcher was throwing a lot of fastballs, and I was thinking of being aggressive. So I said, ‘If he throws one in the middle, I'm going to go for it,’ and I was able to connect very well.”

Soler flashed the leather again in the eighth, when he made a diving catch to prevent the potential game-tying hit off the bat of Starling Marte. The play had a hit probability of 89 percent.

“Just pure instinct,” Soler said. “You have no time to think. You see the ball, you start reacting, and thank God I was able to catch the ball.”

One person who wasn’t surprised was center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was unable to snag Daniel Vogelbach’s double with one out in the inning. Chisholm made up for it with an upper-tank homer off former teammate John Curtiss in the bottom half of the frame. 

It proved to be the difference, as A.J. Puk surrendered a solo shot to University of Florida teammate Pete Alonso in the ninth. Puk recovered for the final two outs to record the save in his Marlins debut.

“I've been watching it all offseason [with] me, him and Avi at the U [University of Miami] working with [outfield coach Jon] Jay all offseason,” Chisholm said of Soler. “So I've been seeing it all offseason, so it doesn't really surprise me how well his defense is right now.”