Reddit AMA: Who's on first? Can Mack or Snelling make Opening Day roster?

On Friday, Marlins club reporter Christina De Nicola conducted an AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit. You can read the full transcript here. Here are some highlights, edited lightly for clarity and brevity:

Who is winning the first-base position battle or does it seem like it’s going to be a platoon/DH position?
Entering Friday, all but one of Christopher Morel’s Grapefruit League starts had come at first base (the other was in right field). This by far leads all Marlins at big league camp. When the organization signed Morel, it was with the intention of primarily playing him at first and adding thump to the lineup. Nothing has changed there.

At the same time, the Marlins value defensive versatility. Outside of left fielder Kyle Stowers, shortstop Otto Lopez, second baseman Xavier Edwards and center fielder Jakob Marsee, the rest of the lineup could very well platoon and/or move around the diamond based on the pitcher’s throwing arm.

Miami already knows how Morel looks at second and third as well as the outfield. He needs to continue gaining experience at first before the games matter. Left-handed bats Liam Hicks and Graham Pauley saw first-base reps in 2025 and complement the right-handed Morel. The left-handed-hitting Griffin Conine can play the corner-outfield spots and has started at first once this spring, entering Friday. Think of it all as putting together pieces of a puzzle to maximize the lineup on a given gameday.

Have you heard any rumblings regarding Agustín Ramírez? With Joe Mack's current Spring Training performance, is there a chance we might see him sooner rather than later?
Repeat after me: Spring Training stats don’t matter. Remember Stowers last year? Earlier this week, manager Clayton McCullough said something similar when asked about the Ramírez and Mack situation.

The plan is still to give Ramírez an adequate amount of time to show he has improved behind the dish before moving on. In the meantime, with Ramírez and Hicks away at the World Baseball Classic, Mack is gaining valuable time with the pitching staff and giving the coaches an extended look at how he works. Whenever Mack’s time comes, his defense can be a gamechanger. I saw it firsthand with this inning-ending back pick on Monday.

As for why Spring Training stats can be misleading? They’re a very small sample size. Over the course of a 162-game season, players go through very good and bad stretches the equivalent amount of time as a Grapefruit League slate. Then there’s the fact pitchers might be working on things they might not do in a regular-season game. Sometimes players can match up with lower-level Minor Leaguers. There are so many variables and factors that can impact spring results.

Beyond an injury, is there anything Robby Snelling can do to break camp in the rotation?
You said it. Barring an injury, there’s nowhere for Snelling.

The rotation will be some variation of Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez, Max Meyer, Braxton Garrett and Chris Paddack. And let’s not forget about the other starting-pitching options already on the 40-man roster at big league camp in Janson Junk, Adam Mazur, who will visit Dr. Keith Meister for right elbow discomfort, Bradley Blalock, Ryan Gusto and Dax Fulton.

Outside of his second spring outing, which came against the Phillies in Clearwater, Snelling has been impressive. He retired a trio of All-Stars in order in the Grapefruit League opener and struck out six Astros on Thursday.

It says a lot about how the Marlins view Snelling, and how close to being big league ready he is, by his usage and opportunity.

Last year, much was made of Miami having live at-bats happen much quicker than per usual in a spring camp to get players ready for the season. Have there been any similar new, outside-the-box wrinkles in 2026?
A few things stand out, but they’re not as “out there” as those live at-bats super early in the spring. New assistant pitching coach Rob Marcello has been calling pitches during live batting practice on occasion. It makes sense considering that will be one of his duties in this role; he already did so in 2025 with Triple-A Jacksonville. There is a greater emphasis on pitchers controlling the run game, with various targets for them to aim for in drill work. Successful pickoffs are being incentivized, much to the pleasure of Eury Pérez (hopefully more on this in the future). As I wrote about earlier this week, Miami is having position players wear GPS units to monitor workload and prevent injury. And the Marlins are using weighted training bats inside the cages to increase bat speed.