With Gillispie named to Marlins' rotation, who will get final spot?

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Marlins have lost two starters (Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers) from their projected Opening Day rotation this week, throwing a lurch to the club’s plans with the season set to begin in six days.

Let’s break down how these developments affect Miami moving forward:

Who is in the mix?
Ace Sandy Alcantara, who threw five innings in a simulated game on Friday afternoon, right-hander Cal Quantrill, who threw four perfect innings in Friday night’s 6-0 Grapefruit League win over the Nationals, and righty Max Meyer will be on the starting staff barring any more injuries.

Earlier in the day, manager Clayton McCullough revealed that righty Connor Gillispie will break camp with the club. He also brought up righties Janson Junk, Valente Bellozo and Adam Mazur as options to round out the rotation. Junk is a non-roster invitee, so the club would need to clear space on a full 40-man roster for him. Bellozo and Mazur were optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville earlier this month.

Junk allowed one run over 3 2/3 innings as Thursday’s opener, throwing 55 pitches before exiting with back spasms. In five Grapefruit League outings, Junk struck out 10 and allowed six runs -- four in one outing -- in 10 1/3 frames.

Bellozo is slated to start against the Cardinals during Saturday’s split-squad matinee in a final audition. After becoming Miami’s most consistent starter by season’s end in 2024, he surrendered nine runs in 5 1/3 innings over his two most recent spring outings. Mazur, ranked as the Marlins’ No. 13 prospect, gave up one run across five spring frames -- all in relief.

“Gillispie will be with us and will get one of those days in the rotation starting out of the gate, or pitching bulk innings,” McCullough said. “He's built up for that and had a really great spring. Janson's had a really good spring here, as well [as] Bellozo, who's continued to get stretched out, along with Mazur.

“While unfortunately, some of these things happen in the spring, we feel very solid about the group that could step up and take down bulk innings, [the] majority of the game, whether that's starting it or another capacity.”

Will Miami take advantage of the schedule?
The Marlins open the season with games in seven consecutive days, meaning every starter will need to toe the rubber at least once. Alcantara and Quantrill will get a second turn through during that stretch.

With an off-day on April 3, Miami could skip the fifth starter by going Meyer, Gillispie and Alcantara for the road series in Atlanta from April 4-6. Another off-day on April 10 could send Alcantara to the mound rather than the fifth starter on April 11. By this point, Cabrera (blister) should be ready to return.

“[It] will provide some potential maneuverability within the five guys, and just things that we'll get through each day, a turn through and just assess where everyone is,” McCullough said. “But having the off-day there after seven, pretty favorable early season with some off-days [that] will allow for the potential of some maneuvering around.”

How does this affect the bullpen?
If the Marlins utilize Gillispie and Junk out of the rotation, the expectation can’t be five or six innings from their starts. In case of a short start, Miami will rely on multiple members of the bullpen to get through the game rather than a traditional long reliever. It’s something the club had been building toward this Spring Training even before the injuries to Cabrera and Weathers.

“I think we feel comfortable with the group that's been here with us,” McCullough said. “[George] Soriano has been able to get built up. Josh Simpson has been able to get built up, as well as [Ronny] Henriquez. So we feel like that there has been, to this point, enough candidates that will be in our bullpen, that while it might not be four or five innings, but there's a lot they can go two, two-plus, three innings, and they've hit those marks some in Spring Training. So at least throughout the ’pen there would be enough available arms that are able to take down multiple innings.”

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Worth noting: McCullough announced Nick Fortes will catch Alcantara on Opening Day.