JUPITER, Fla. -- Marlins right-hander Pablo López spent the offseason searching for answers.

In each of his first two seasons with Miami, López spent time on the injured list with right shoulder issues. When he strained his shoulder at the end of 2018, his IL stint was considered precautionary.

But in '19, López was back on the injured list in June with the same issue, which limited him to 21 starts.

López had an up-and-down season, going 5-8 with a 5.09 ERA in 111 1/3 innings.

“The two times that’s happened, it’s been very frustrating,” López said on Wednesday afternoon. “The goal is to stay healthy and try to help the team as much as you can.”

On Wednesday, López made his first Grapefruit League start, and the right-hander was clearly rusty. In 1 2/3 innings, he allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits with two hit batters and a strikeout in the Marlins’ 8-7 comeback win over the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

“I felt really good,” López said. “It’s more of a timing thing.”

Grapefruit League results, especially this early in Spring Training, are not necessarily what is important for López. Staying healthy is.

“I thought Pablo was all right,” manager Don Mattingly said. “I thought he was being aggressive. He had some good, good sliders that he added in there today. He gave up a couple of hits, but he’s still back in the zone.”

López is one of Miami's core rotation pieces.

“Pablo has a lot of talent, and a lot of tools to be a good pitcher,” veteran catcher Francisco Cervelli said. “The only thing is, we’ve got to make him believe that he’s got good stuff, because it is real.”

After two straight injury-shortened seasons, López refined his conditioning and strengthening programs.

“When it happened last year for the second time, I really took one step back and looked at the whole picture, trying to find the cause,” López said. “I’m just trying to identify something and then just fix something first. I started doing a lot of mobility work. … Finding those routines.”

López said he is focusing on balance.

“I’m just trying to find that balance in the workload,” he said. “That’s something I’m trying to be better at.”

The Marlins closely monitor all their pitchers. With López especially, they are making sure he follows a strict routine.

“Really, what you do is make sure he is doing the maintenance, and everything he can do to keep himself strong,” Mattingly said. “Both times it seems like it’s happened, he’s been rolling along just fine.”

Both times with his shoulder, López complained of discomfort at least one day after pitching in a game.

“The biggest thing is, we are identifying with him to do his work and stay on his arm care,” Mattingly said. “We’re doing everything we can do to give him the best chance to stay healthy.”