3 pressing questions in Marlins camp ahead of Opening Day

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Marlins have yet to reach the halfway point in Grapefruit League action, but Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Nationals was the closest resemblance to an Opening Day roster thus far.

Here are three questions that will receive more clarity as the spring progresses:

Will Sandy Alcantara's innings be monitored?
Alcantara led all qualified pitchers with 858 1/3 innings from 2019-23, including back-to-back 200-plus-frame seasons from '21-22, but how realistic is that workload returning from Tommy John surgery?

Pitching coach Daniel Moskos admitted it’s a nuanced situation. Miami’s main goal will be to “over communicate” with Alcantara, with the training and performance staff staying on top of how he’s feeling and whether he’s showing any signs of fatigue.

“There's not a ton of science out there to support that innings caps actually do anything for you,” Moskos told MLB.com. “There's actually more signal to the number of pitches that you throw within a game, especially with someone who throws as hard as Sandy. The workload world is shifting to a more exponential, weighted type of workload, where if you throw 99 [mph] at pitch 100, it's more stressful on the body than you throw 99 at pitch one. We do need to take that into account.

“Maybe that is a way that you can find to control some innings here or there, maybe not letting him go to 110-115 pitches every time out, and trying to manage it that way. But we're also going to have to include Sandy in this conversation, because he's really important to this organization. He's the face of the franchise, and we need to make sure that he has a say here, because ultimately, it is his career, and if he wants to do something, he should have a voice to be able to say that.”

What might the lineup look like?
Shortstop Xavier Edwards, who reached base at a .397 clip in 70 games last season, is an easy choice to be the leadoff batter. After that is any guess.

Miami has a near-equal mix of lefty and righty bats, which lends itself to platoon possibilities for manager Clayton McCullough.

First-base candidates Matt Mervis (lefty) and Jonah Bride (righty), and outfielder Jesús Sánchez, were not in Wednesday’s lineup. Otherwise, this could be a lineup permutation.

1) Xavier Edwards (S)
2) Griffin Conine (L)
3) Derek Hill (R)
4) Connor Norby (R)
5) Kyle Stowers (L)
6) Nick Fortes (R)
7) Otto Lopez (R)
8) Graham Pauley (L)
9) Eric Wagaman (R)

“What do we think on that day against the starter, or how a team's bullpen lines up within how we want to run out the remainder of guys that are playing that day," McCullough said of considerations for the order. “And then not to be so tied to well, ‘I have to hit in this spot,’ or ‘I'm this, I'm that.’ They're OK with coming here, and ‘I'm in the lineup.’

“It allows a lot of optionality for me, and a lot of flexibility to be able to mix those pieces up. Again, depending on the opposing starter and how their bullpen [may] be run and deployed on a given day.”

Do the Marlins have enough lefty relievers?
Andrew Nardi sustained another setback when he felt tightness in his back, so he has stopped his ramp up and will be reevaluated. That leaves just one healthy southpaw on the 40-man roster: Anthony Veneziano.

“We really like the stuff and the pitches that he's throwing,” McCullough said. “I think with Anthony, it's still being consistently in the strike zone. I think that's it. [When] we've seen him in the zone, it's been very good.”

McCullough singled out non-roster invitees Josh Simpson and John Rooney. Simpson, who was outrighted off the 40-man roster in November, threw two scoreless frames on Saturday after giving up two runs in his one-inning spring debut. Rooney has tossed three scoreless frames.

In a division with dangerous lefty sluggers, the Marlins will need relievers who can retire them in leverage situations. If Miami was to add someone like Simpson or Rooney, the club would need to clear space on the 40-man roster since it is full.

“Those will be things as we get later in camp,” McCullough said. “Certainly all considerations. I feel like we'll have some right-handed pitchers that have the pitchability and the mix to be able to neutralize the other side enough to be able to have a run where they have the righties and then there's a lefty in there.”