Gurriel had his contract selected by the Marlins on Thursday.
Gurriel signed a minor-league deal with Miami in early March and is positioned for a bench role to begin the 2023 season.
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Marlins' Nic Enright: Placed on 15-day IL
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Enright (illness) was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to March 27.
Enright resumed throwing at the end of spring training, but he needs more rehab work following a Dec. 23 diagnosis of Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma. The 26-year-old right-hander was selected by the Marlins in the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 7.
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Marlins' Steven Okert: Moved to 15-day IL
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Okert (groin) was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to March 27.
Okert developed adductor tightness in his inner left thigh toward the end of spring training and figures to miss at least the first couple of weeks of the 2023 regular season. He can be a high-leverage option for the Marlins whenever he's fit again for MLB competition.
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Marlins' Tommy Nance: Placed on 15-day IL
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Nance (shoulder) was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to March 27.
Nance struggled with right shoulder soreness all spring and there is currently no timetable for his 2023 debut. He hung back at the Marlins' spring training complex in Florida when camp broke.
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Marlins' Max Meyer: Placed on 60-day IL
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Meyer (elbow) was placed on the 60-day injured list Thursday.
Meyer required Tommy John surgery last August and probably won't be ready for live action again until the closing weeks of the 2023 regular season.
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Marlins' Bryan De La Cruz: Starting in left field Thursday
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De La Cruz is starting in left field and batting seventh for the Marlins on Thursday versus the Mets.
Manager Skip Schumaker intimated Wednesday that De La Cruz would likely get the bulk of the reps in left field in the early going, and it is indeed the right-handed hitter in left for the opener even with Max Scherzer toeing the rubber. Jesus Sanchez will come off the bench.
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Marlins' Jazz Chisholm: Ready to roll for Opening Day
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Chisholm (arm) is starting in center field and batting fourth for the Marlins in Thursday's opener against the Mets.
Chisholm battled some late-camp cramping in his throwing arm, but it never seemed like a threat to keep him out of the Opening Day lineup. This will be Chisholm's first regular-season start in center field as he makes the move from the infield.
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker indicated Wednesday that Gurriel will primarily be used as a bat off the bench, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.
Schumaker did say that he feels comfortable deploying Gurriel against both righties and lefties but also went on to confirm that Garrett Cooper will remain the team's primary first baseman. There is very little fantasy appeal in the 2023 outlook of a 38-year-old reserve player who slashed just .242/.288/.360 across 584 regular-season plate appearances in 2022.
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Marlins' Tanner Scott: Named as candidate for saves
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Marlins manager Skip Schumaker mentioned Scott, A.J. Puk and Dylan Floro as being "in the mix" for closing situations to begin the season, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.
Both Scott and Floro have a similar amount of closing experience at the MLB level, while Puk, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2016 First-Year Player Draft, may profile as the most talented arm in the bullpen if he can enjoy the sustained run of health that has thus far eluded him in his professional career. The fact that Schumaker is a first-year manager makes it even more difficult to predict whether he'll end up setting on one of the aforementioned three pitchers or someone else to see the bulk of the save chances, or if he'll take a loose committee approach to the ninth inning for the balance of the campaign. Scott brings immense strikeout upside to the table and is fine to take a dart throw on late in drafts or pick up off the waiver wire with the hope that he falls into save chances, but his career-long control issues -- his 15.9 percent walk rate last season was the worst among all relievers who pitched at least 50 innings -- make it hard to envision him locking down the closing gig for the entirety of the campaign.
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Marlins' Bryan De La Cruz: To get bulk of outfield reps early
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Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said Wednesday that he expects De La Cruz to receive the bulk of the reps in the third outfield spot alongside Jazz Chisholm (arm) and Avisail Garcia to begin the season, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.
Jorge Soler may also mix into the corner outfield on the days he doesn't serve as a designated hitter, but De La Cruz and Garcia otherwise look to have the edge on playing time in left or right field over Sanchez. Even though Sanchez bats from the left side, Schumaker doesn't envision the righty-hitting De La Cruz filling the short side of a platoon, at least early on in the campaign. The 26-year-old De La Cruz hit just .252 with a .725 OPS in 115 games with Miami in 2022, but he ranked in the 90th percentile or higher in several metrics that measure hard contact. De La Cruz certainly has the talent to be a fantasy-relevant outfielder in 2023, but he will need to get off to a good start to keep receiving regular playing time in the outfield.
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Marlins' Johnny Cueto: Lined up as No. 5 starter
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Cueto (arm) is tentatively scheduled to start the Marlins' fifth regular-season game next Monday against the Twins, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.
Cueto came down with some general arm soreness earlier this month, but he threw 61 pitches over 4.2 innings in a minor-league game last Friday and is set to take the mound again Wednesday in Jupiter. It's looking like the veteran right-hander will indeed be a normal-functioning member of the Miami rotation to begin the 2023 campaign.
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Marlins' Edward Cabrera: Starting third game of season
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Cabrera will be included in the Marlins' Opening Day rotation and is in line to start the team's third game of the season Saturday versus the Mets at LoanDepot Park, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.
Assuming the Marlins open the season with a five-man rotation, Cabrera looks to have secured the final spot over Braxton Garrett, who is projected to work out of the bullpen until a starting role reopens. Cabrera brings plenty of strikeout upside to the table while leaning on an arsenal that includes a mid-to-high 90s fastball and a low-90s changeup that proved particularly deadly against lefties a season ago, but poor health and high walk and home-run rates have thus far hindered the 24-year-old right-hander in his efforts to establish himself as a full-time starter in the big leagues. He appeared to take significant steps forward late last season and has carried over that success to the spring, making him an appealing target in the middle to later rounds of drafts for any fantasy pitching staff.
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Marlins' Avisail Garcia: Wraps up tough spring
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Garcia went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in Sunday's split-squad game against the Nationals.
The veteran outfielder is coming off a 2022 season in which he posted career worsts with a .583 OPS and 28.7 percent strikeout rate, and he hit only eight home runs in 98 games. Unfortunately, his performance this spring doesn't suggest a rebound is on the horizon. Garcia went 7-for-49 (.143) with two homers and two doubles during Grapefruit League play, but his 1:20 BB:K is especially troubling. If he has a slow start to his 2023, the 31-year-old could lose playing time quickly as the Marlins have plenty of options to handle the corner outfield spots, including Bryan De La Cruz, Jesus Sanchez and Jorge Soler.
Marlins general manager Kim Ng disclosed Sunday that Eder has been sporting a walking boot on his left foot for a couple of weeks due to an apparent injury, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.
After undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2021, Eder reported to spring training at full health and was expected to pitch in a Grapefruit League game at some point, but the previously unreported foot injury explains why he has yet to make his spring debut. According to Ng, Eder has been able to keep his surgically repaired arm fresh by throwing from one knee, but he obviously won't be ready for game action until he's able to shed the boot and field his position without issue. Expect Eder to open the campaign on the injured list at Double-A Pensacola or Triple-A Jacksonville.
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Marlins' JT Chargois: Returns to action Friday
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Chargois (neck) struck out two over a scoreless inning of relief in Friday's 3-2 win over the Astros in Grapefruit League play.
A stiff neck kept Chargois out of commission for a few days, but the injury doesn't look as though it'll derail his bid for a spot in Miami's Opening Day bullpen. Chargois has covered 6.1 innings across seven appearances this spring, yielding two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out nine.
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Marlins' Jesus Sanchez: May be headed for bench role
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Sanchez is expected to be included on the Marlins' 26-man Opening Day roster, but he could serve as a bench bat rather than a regular starter, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.
Though he cut down his strikeout rate from 31.1 percent in 2021 to 26.8 percent in 2022, Sanchez's power output (.189 ISO in 2022, .238 ISO) took a major step back from the season prior. Sanchez has slashed a credible .302/.333/.419 through his first 18 games of Grapefruit League play and looks to have done enough to break camp with the big club, but with Jazz Chisholm (arm) making the full-time move to center field and with Jorge Soler seeing more work in the corner outfield spot opposite Avisail Garcia as spring training winds down, Sanchez looks as though he'll have to settle for a reserve role. If the Marlins aren't willing to open up a regular spot in the outfield for Sanchez, he may struggle to find playing time off the bench, given that his left-handedness won't make him a candidate to fill a short-side platoon role.
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Marlins' Yuli Gurriel: Expected to make Opening Day roster
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Marlins general manager Kim Ng said Sunday that Gurriel "should be there on Thursday," implying his contract will be selected prior to the Marlins' season opener with the Mets that day, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.
After drawing limited interest in free agency this winter, Gurriel settled for a minor-league deal with Miami in March and showed well enough in his limited time in the Grapefruit League to earn a spot on the Marlins' big-league roster. The 38-year-old struggled mightily in 2022 with a .242/.288/.360 slash line over 584 plate appearances, but he led all of baseball with a .319 average in 2021. Though he may be able to bounce back in the batting-average department in 2023 if he can stave off any major decline in the career-worst 12.5 percent strikeout rate he sported a season ago, Gurriel's advancing age, paucity of power and poorer team context with the move from Houston to Miami may limit his fantasy appeal largely to NL-only formats.
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Marlins' Jose Iglesias: Won't be on Opening Day roster
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Marlins general manager Kim Ng said Sunday that Iglesias won't make the Opening Day roster but will stay in the organization, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.
The Marlins signed Iglesias earlier this month on a minor-league deal and afforded him the opportunity to compete for a reserve role with the big club, but another veteran non-roster invitee in Yuli Gurriel appears set to beat him out for the bench gig. Iglesias received only 13 plate appearances over five Grapefruit League games, hitting just .167. Iglesias will presumably head to Triple-A Jacksonville rather than immediately opting out of his minor-league deal to pursue opportunities elsewhere.
