Marlins 25-Man Roster Nearly Set
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Miami Marlins got one step closer to the final 25 man roster Thursday when the team sent promising outfielder Jake Marisnick and infielder Donovan Solano to Triple-A New Orleans.
The Marlins also sent Austin Nola, Matt Angle, Juan Diaz, Henry Rodriguez, and Chris Hatcher to the team's minor league training camp on Thursday. The series of moves took the Marlins active roster down to 27 players, meaning two more players' roles will have to be decided.
The Marlins will have to make a decision soon on the centerfield position and whether to put Brian Bogusevic or Marcell Ozuna in the starting lineup. Bogusevic has struggled at the plate in spring training, putting up just a .174 average with a .387 OPS. He's managed just eight hits in 46 at-bats in the spring.
Ozuna showed some promise last season when he was called up before struggling mightily at the plate. This spring he's not done much better hitting just .164 with a .364 slugging percentage. He has just nine hits in 55 spring training at-bats this year.
One of the two will make the start in centerfield. If Ozuna can come around, but in his last 27 spring training at-bats, Marcell is hitting just .148 (5-27). Bogusevic is doing marginally better at 6-25 (.240) in his recent spring training games.
The Marlins are also expected to send second-baseman Rafael Furcal to the disabled list to start the season. That will move either Jeff Baker or Derek Dietrich into the starting lineup for the Marlins at second base.
Miami's projected opening day lineup will be: 1B – Garret Jones, 2B – Dietrich/Baker, 3B – Casey McGehee, SS – Adeiny Hechavarria, LF – Christian Yelich, CF – Marcell Ozuna, RF – Giancarlo Stanton, P – Jose Fernandez.
