Here are ways Marlins can round out position-player group

MIAMI – The Marlins will be without All-Star Kyle Stowers and outfielder Esteury Ruiz for the foreseeable future.

Now what?

Miami will need to name 13 position players to the Opening Day roster, but the club only had 12 healthy guys from the 40-man roster remaining when big league camp broke on Sunday afternoon.

Let’s take a look at how Miami might round out this group ahead of Friday’s opener at loanDepot park:

External route
Possible free-agent candidates: Austin Slater (free agent), Chris Taylor (free agent), Tommy Pham (free agent)
Possible trade candidates: James Outman (Twins), Trevor Larnach (Twins)

Pros: All of these guys have proven track records in the Majors and have started on a regular basis or come off the bench in their careers. Slater, in particular, is a right-handed-hitter who could platoon for the left-handed-heavy Marlins. He posted an .856 OPS this spring and has a career .787 OPS vs. lefties in 1,022 plate appearances.

Cons: Pham was not at a big league camp, so it would take longer to be game ready. Both Outman and Larnach are lefty bats, and all of these names had an OPS+ of 99 or lower, which is below league average, in 2025.

Connections: Slater played for general manager Gabe Kapler’s Giants clubs (2020-23). Taylor overlapped with manager Clayton McCullough during their Dodgers tenures. Pham and president of baseball operations Peter Bendix were with the Rays at the same time.

Of note: Miami made trades leading up to the previous two season openers. In a three-team deal, the Marlins sent Jon Berti to the Yankees and received John Cruz from them and Shane Sasaki from the Rays in 2024. Last year, Miami acquired righty Tyler Phillips from Philadelphia for cash.

Internal route
40-man outfield options: Jakob Marsee, Owen Caissie, Griffin Conine, Heriberto Hernández
40-man versatile options: Connor Norby, Christopher Morel, Javier Sanoja

Norby, who will primarily play third base, started back-to-back games in left field over the spring’s final weekend. Morel, projected as the club’s main first baseman, has appeared in 164 big league games in the outfield. Sanoja is the Gold-Glove-winning utility player who played every position except right field and catcher last season.

40-man catcher/infield options: Joe Mack (MLB Pipeline’s No. 62 overall prospect), Jared Serna, Deyvison De Los Santos

Since Stowers and Ruiz are both outfielders, it seems unlikely the Marlins would round out the position-player group with one of these names. If they did, that would mean giving the trio of Norby, Morel and Sanoja more outfield reps. Mack saw extensive Spring Training action with Agustín Ramírez and Liam Hicks participating in the World Baseball Classic. Serna and De Los Santos, both of whom were optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville, were at big league camp but played sparingly.

Non-roster Triple-A outfield options: Kemp Alderman (Marlins No. 9 prospect), Daniel Johnson, Andrew Pintar, Matthew Etzel
Non-roster Triple-A catcher/infield options: Bennett Hostetler, Jesús Bastidas, Jacob Berry, Johnny Olmstead

The Marlins would prefer to give Triple-A prospects like Mack and Alderman regular playing time in the Minors for their development rather than inconsistent at-bats in the Majors. Plus, none of the prospects mentioned have debuted yet. Johnson, meanwhile, has 152 career plate appearances in the Majors from 2020-25. Bastidas, who is with his fifth organization, has nearly 3,000 career Minor League plate appearances. Berry, the sixth overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, has appeared in 113 games in the outfield from ‘24-25.

Like the external options, Miami would need to clear a roster spot for these internal options. Right-hander Adam Mazur, who underwent elbow surgery this spring, would free up space when placed on the 60-day injured list. Another factor Miami will weigh is the amount of time Stowers -- more so than Ruiz -- will miss. At least three to four weeks without Stowers might not be considered long enough to make the bigger move of signing someone. It could, however, send a message that the club is serious about contending and wants to bring in a proven name.

“We'll look to see how that final spot now gets filled, whether that's internal or there's still time leading up to the season, if that's an external addition,” McCullough said. “We'll have 13 position players on Friday when we get going, and we feel good about what we have. We feel like we have enough players that have the ability to play multiple spots and can move pieces around whether it's matchups or just how guys are performing, to dictate who gets that playing time.”