What to watch at Marlins camp: Rotation battle, prospect impressions

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola¡¯s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

JUPITER, Fla. -- Marlins pitchers and catchers held their first workout on Wednesday.

After checking out the Spring Training FAQ and first Opening Day roster prediction, it¡¯s time to dive into three storylines to monitor throughout Spring Training:

How will the rotation fill out behind Alcantara?
Sandy Alcantara¡¯s absence due to Tommy John surgery was felt in 2024. When injuries ravaged the organization¡¯s starting-pitching depth, it would¡¯ve helped to have the Cy Young Award winner eat up innings and halt losing skids every fifth day. Miami finished with just 29 quality starts (fewest in the Majors by 12) and a 5.24 starter¡¯s ERA (tied for highest).

With Jes¨²s Luzardo¡¯s departure and Braxton Garrett¡¯s surgery, the Marlins need right-hander Edward Cabrera to finally live up to his frontline potential. Manager Clayton McCullough believes Cabrera, who turns 27 on April 13, will do so as the club¡¯s breakout star. Through 63 big league outings (61 starts) from 2021-24, Cabrera has a 4.32 ERA and a 5.1 BB/9 rate. Prone to inconsistency and injuries, Miami cannot afford that from Cabrera since he no longer has Minor League options.

Left-hander Ryan Weathers was making an All-Star case (3.55 ERA) before a fluke injury kept him off the mound for three months. The 25-year-old dropped 25 pounds this offseason and hopes that his encouraging first half can turn into an impressive full season in 2025. Joining the mix is veteran Cal Quantrill, who signed on Wednesday.

After those four, the only remaining 40-man starting-pitching options with MLB experience are right-handers Max Meyer, Valente Bellozo and prospect Adam Mazur.

Meyer, who turns 26 on March 12, made the Opening Day rotation -- after being optioned during Spring Training -- because of injuries to others. Miami sent him to Triple-A Jacksonville despite a dominant three-start stretch (2.12 ERA) because he was coming back from Tommy John surgery. In his return, Meyer struggled (7.20 ERA) and ended the season with right shoulder bursitis.

Acquired from the Astros last April, the 25-year-old Bellozo posted a 3.67 ERA across 13 starts even though he had never pitched above the Double-A level entering 2024 and despite his fastball averaging just 86.6 mph. Mazur made eight starts for the Padres (7.49 ERA) before coming over in a trade and pitching at Triple-A Jacksonville (5.21 ERA).

What prospects will force the issue during camp?
There are two groups of prospects to consider: those on the 40-man roster (Mazur; left-hander Dax Fulton; catcher Agustin Ramirez; infielders Deyvison De Los Santos, Jared Serna, Javier Sanoja and Max Acosta; outfielder Victor Mesa Jr.) and the non-roster invitees (lefty Robby Snelling; catcher Joe Mack; infielder Jacob Berry; outfielders Andrew Pintar and Jakob Marsee).

Mazur has a shot if he impresses at camp because of the thin rotation depth. That¡¯s a good reason to expect Snelling, who completed his 2024 with a strong showing at Triple-A Jacksonville, to arrive sooner rather than later.

If catcher Liam Hicks doesn¡¯t show enough to warrant a roster spot, the Marlins will return him to the Tigers per Rule 5 Draft rules. In doing so, Miami could use Ramirez as Nick Fortes¡¯ backup or a veteran non-roster invitee like Rob Brantly.

Sanoja projects as the frontrunner for the utility role after receiving his first callup and earning Marlins Player Development Player of the Year honors. De Los Santos led all Minor Leaguers in homers and RBIs, making that type of game-changing power hard to overlook if he cuts down on the strikeouts. Plus, Jonah Bride and Matt Mervis are the only regular first basemen with MLB experience on the club.

Miami¡¯s outfield options -- left-handed bats Griffin Conine, Jes¨²s S¨¢nchez and Kyle Stowers and right-handed bats Derek Hill and Dane Myers -- could be platoon players until they prove otherwise. Mesa and Marsee are waiting in the wings.

What sort of atmosphere will the new coaches set?
Development is the focus for McCullough, who likened the inexperienced roster to a ¡°blank canvas¡± that the staff can help grow akin to a startup company.

¡°The vibes around the coaching staff and kind of what we're putting in place for the players have been fantastic,¡± president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said on Wednesday. ¡°Spent a lot of time getting the right coaches in place, and we're starting to see that come out in these coaching sessions, in side sessions, into games and everything. The vibes are really just great around camp.¡±