MIAMI -- Hours before first pitch on Opening Day, Marlins manager Don Mattingly explained he expected a similar level of intensity on a daily basis despite the season returning to 162 games. If the Citrus Series was any indication, he is right. All three matchups between the 2020 playoff teams were closely contested. Miami lost two of three to reigning American League champion Tampa Bay, but the club blew a ninth-inning lead in Game 2.

Though there's the luxury of more time for his club to get going, Mattingly and the Marlins want a fast start because of the highly competitive National League East. Each team is capable, so games in April count just as much as those in September.

"It's not like we can just kind of smooth into the season and catch our groove," Mattingly said during a Zoom call. "I think we feel like we need to play well -- and it starts at the very beginning. So that's kind of the way we look at it. The marathon those guys run -- four-minute miles or four-something to win a marathon -- that's not a go-jog-in-the-park pace. So we want to get up to speed, find that groove and try to stay at a high level as much as we possibly can."

Here are some themes from the first series:

Strong starting, but health in doubt
Right-handers Sandy Alcantara and Pablo López looked like top-of-the-rotation arms with 11 combined scoreless innings. But now the question marks begin, after Elieser Hernandez exited his 2021 debut with right biceps tendon inflammation. Earlier in the week, MLB Pipeline's No. 15 overall prospect Sixto Sánchez had a setback that will delay his return to the Majors. Next in line at the alternate training site are right-hander Nick Neidert (Miami's No. 12 prospect) as well as left-handers Daniel Castano and Braxton Garrett (No. 9 prospect), who have eight combined Major League starts.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers, Miami's No. 7 prospect, will be even more crucial to the starting staff with the uncertainty surrounding it. He experienced ups and downs across seven regular-season starts upon his callup in 2020, then followed that up by recording the second-most strikeouts in Spring Training.

"I have a mix of pitches I can play really well in the zone. ... I can compete at the big league level and have success," Rogers said during a Zoom call. "That's something kind of last year. I mean, I'm sure every baseball player has this like, 'Man, am I good enough to be up here?' This spring was truly like a testament to, 'Yeah, you can compete at the big league level and stay up here for a long time as long as you're succeeding.'"

Bullpen knocked down, gets back up
Miami's revamped relief corps saw mixed results in the opening weekend, posting a 7.24 ERA -- mainly due to Tampa Bay's hitters capitalizing on mistakes and sending them over for the wall for four homers. It's an encouraging sign, however, that three relievers in particular bounced back in their second outings.

After giving up the decisive homer in his season debut, Yimi García pitched a scoreless eighth on Friday. Richard Bleier surrendered one of the Rays' three homers on Friday, but he pitched a perfect seventh on Saturday. Closer Anthony Bass, who took the loss on Friday after allowing four runs in the ninth, needed just nine pitches to secure Saturday's win.

"We know we trust those guys, we know they're going to be good," Mattingly said. "You don't know what you're getting that first time out of the block in the new year. I do think it's important to get those guys back out there. I was glad we were able to get Bass back out there right away, get back on the horse and get going. And the same with [Bleier]."

Ways to manufacture runs
It took until the 16th inning of the season for the Marlins to get on the scoreboard in 2021. Jazz Chisholm, MLB Pipeline's No. 66 overall prospect, sparked the offense with a two-out triple on Friday that led to Miami's first run. Once that happened, the bats came to life. This all came against Tampa Bay's vaunted pitching staff.

In Saturday's 14-hit attack, Garrett Cooper and Adam Duvall went deep. After recording a golden sombrero with four strikeouts on Opening Day, Starling Marte collected seven hits over the next two games from the No. 2 spot in the lineup. And despite going hitless on Saturday, Chisholm walked, stole second and third within the span of a pitch and scored on a shallow sacrifice fly to right. Saturday's outburst included a lineup featuring four players who didn't start on Opening Day.

"It just speaks ... volumes of what we can do," Cooper said during a Zoom call. "I think coming off of last year, you guys saw a glimpse of what we can do in a 60-game season, so we think we should be able to continue moving on into [this] season putting up some runs. I think a lot of media outlets don't give us the love on offense. So you know we're out there to pick a bone with somebody, because there's a lot of talk that we're not going to score runs. So I think one through nine, we're trying to shove it to somebody."