MIAMI ¨C What seems like a lifetime ago, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker sat down with Jake Burger at Yankee Stadium during the first road trip of the season to discuss the club¡¯s plan for him in 2024.

Primarily a third baseman, Burger would not only learn first base but treat it as almost a partial off-day, much like he would in games he served as the designated hitter in order to maintain his health, because injuries prevented Burger from playing a full season until the 2023 campaign. Though the roster has changed since then, Miami is still rotating Burger between those three positions, along with Jonah Bride and Emmanuel Rivera.

Last weekend in Atlanta, as the Marlins wrapped up a season-long nine-game road trip -- which included the Trade Deadline -- Schumaker and Burger had another conversation. This time, it detailed how Burger¡¯s OPS has increased following games when he was the DH or first baseman.

¡°Honestly, I focus [the lineup] around Burger more than anybody, making sure he is OK and good,¡± Schumaker said before the Marlins' 10-inning 9-8 loss to the Padres on Saturday at loanDepot park. ¡°That doesn't take away from anybody else, don't get me wrong, but I do make sure because of his injury history that he feels good every single day, and I feel like that DH does help him.¡±

Added Burger: ¡°He made it a clear point, like, ¡®Hey, man -- I want you to crush it the next two months, and if I can rest your legs whenever I can, I'm going to do that. These are the numbers, and the numbers don't lie.¡¯ So I'm grateful that I have a manager that has that communication with me, and we have really good conversations about all things, but especially that.¡±

Burger started the series opener on Friday at first base, then returned to the hot corner on Saturday. When Burger lined a sinker from lefty Adrian Morejon over the right-field wall for a game-tying solo shot with two outs in the eighth, it pushed him into the Major League lead for second-half home runs (11). Among 188 players with 60-plus plate appearances during this span, he ranked fourth in slugging percentage (.768) and fifth in OPS (1.162) at the time of the swing.

By going deep 11 times in 22 games since the All-Star break, Burger joined Giancarlo Stanton (2017) as the only players in franchise history to do so. (Of note: that was Stanton's NL MVP Award-winning season.) After Burger joined the Marlins at the Deadline last season, all he did was post a slash line of .303/.355/.505 with nine homers in 53 games. He is on pace to surpass that production, and that¡¯s without the protection of a veteran lineup.

¡°That's a tall order -- [Stanton is] one of the best power bats in the game and to ever do it -- so anytime I'm getting lumped in with him, it's a great accolade, that's for sure,¡± Burger said. ¡°I think for me, I was just finding myself. I think July 1 on I feel like I've driven the ball a lot better like I have been in the past, and [I] finally feel like I was fully free from a little oblique thing I had earlier in the year. It's been great work with [hitting coach John Mabry] too in the cage and getting my swing right.¡±

At the time, Burger¡¯s swing bailed out righties Declan Cronin and Anthony Bender, who permitted a combined five runs over the seventh and eighth innings to turn a 7-3 lead into an 8-7 deficit. It also fired up the crowd for the Dominican Republic Heritage Celebration.

Miami had erased a 3-0 deficit in large part thanks to a trio of Dominicans.

Vidal Bruj¨¢n (San Pedro de Macoris, DR) deposited righty Matt Waldron¡¯s cutter over the center-field wall for a two-out solo homer in the fourth. At a Statcast-projected 415 feet, it was his longest of five career long balls. The Marlins then scored six runs in the fifth while sending 12 batters to the plate. Jes¨²s S¨¢nchez (Higuey) produced a game-tying two-run double against Waldron and Otto Lopez (Santo Domingo) delivered a go-ahead two-run double vs. reliever Jeremiah Estrada.

But for the third straight game, Miami ended up in extras. After righty John McMillon held San Diego to one run in his Miami debut, Burger came to the plate with runners at first and second and two outs against former teammate Tanner Scott. He whiffed on a 98.2 mph four-seamer to end the game.

¡°That¡¯s a really good hitter, and I am used to that man you could say,¡± Scott said. ¡°It¡¯s cool we got the win. ¡­ He did what he did earlier in the game, and I am glad I got him out. He¡¯s a good hitter.¡¯¡¯