MIAMI -- With the return of a 162-game season and the absence of the universal designated hitter, the Marlins will try to find ways to keep their players healthy and productive.

In the three-game opening series against the Rays at loanDepot park, manager Don Mattingly got all 13 position players at least one at-bat, with everyone except outfielder Magneuris Sierra receiving a start. For Saturday's finale, super-utility player Jon Berti was penciled in at third base in place of Brian Anderson, with Lewis Brinson in left for Corey Dickerson, Garrett Cooper in right for Adam Duvall and Chad Wallach at catcher for Jorge Alfaro.

"This is all about keeping our guys in the mix," Mattingly said during a Zoom call. "We've got a good team. When you see our bench, it's different than it was two years ago. You're looking at guys that all could be playing at different times in the year and multiple starts. So we come out of Spring Training, everybody's had their at-bats pretty evenly, guys are swinging the bat or feel good about it.

"The one thing I don't want to do is all of a sudden I'm seven to 10 games in the season, and guys on my bench haven't seen the field. And so we're going to get our guys in the mix. They're part of the flow. This is a group. This is a team, and we're going to need all these guys from knowing that we want to get them blended in early."

Part of the conundrum is finding a rotation for the right-handed trio of Duvall, Cooper and Jesús Aguilar without the benefit of the DH. Both Cooper and Aguilar play first base. Duvall, the club's offseason acquisition, is the primary right fielder. Cooper will see time at both positions, but his outfield workload won't be too taxing to avoid injury risk. Over the past two seasons, which includes 2020's truncated slate, Duvall has played 98 Major League games and 101 Triple-A contests. Aguilar has appeared in 182, while Cooper has played in 141.

The opposing starter on the mound will play into how the lineup shapes up. As of now, the left-handed-hitting Dickerson will not start against southpaws, which was the case for the final two games of the series against Tampa Bay. That allowed Cooper to slot into right for both matchups. On Friday, Duvall moved from right to left in Dickerson's stead. In Saturday's finale, right-handed-hitting Brinson started in left. Miami has five natural outfielders on the roster, with Cooper and Berti also in the mix.

Early on, Mattingly and bench coach James Rowson laid the foundation for how the club planned on finding ways for players to start games on a daily basis. Cooper anticipates appearing in the lineup twice a series.

"It's just a thing to keep everybody healthy, keep everyone off their feet, get that rotation in," Cooper said. "I'd love to play 162 days and I'd love to have the DH, like I said earlier, but we're dealt with the cards. Just prepare the way that I have been every season, and with the rotation playing right field, playing first base, it just goes into the count of, 'What can you do for the club today?'"

Marlins' response to Midsummer Classic move
MLB on Friday announced that it will relocate the 2021 All-Star Game and MLB Draft, originally scheduled to take place in Atlanta, to a to-be-determined location. The decision comes a little more than a week after the passage of SB 202, a Georgia law that President Joe Biden criticized earlier this week, saying that it will restrict voting access for residents of the state.

Marlins CEO Derek Jeter released the following statement Friday night following the news: "The act of participating in our country's election process is our civic responsibility and instrumental to our country's foundation. We should promote increasing voter turnout as opposed to any measures that adversely impact the ability to cast a ballot. In November, the Marlins proudly set out to promote the vote with Our Election Day Feed the Polls initiative, providing meals to voters as our local election officials conducted free and fair elections. We support the Commissioner's decision to stand up for the values of our game and not hold this year's All-Star Game in the state of Georgia."

Mattingly, a six-time All-Star as a player, was part of the coaching staff for the 2017 Midsummer Classic in Miami. He understands the years of planning that go into hosting the festivities.

"I think it's bold on MLB's part," Mattingly said. "I think sometimes you just have to stand up for what you think is right. So what MLB has done for baseball as an industry is basically stand up for voters' rights. Looking at Derek's statement, couldn't agree more. I think we don't even need to go any further on that. I think he says it perfectly. And I have those same beliefs and share those. So that's kind of my take on it."

Waiting in the wings
Eight of Miami's Top 30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline, are at the alternate training site in Jacksonville, Fla., home to the organization's Triple-A affiliate. When the Marlins need a fifth starter in the rotation, right-hander Nick Neidert (No. 12) is an option to be recalled in place of MLB Pipeline's No. 15 overall prospect Sixto Sánchez, who has mild inflammation in his right shoulder.