WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- With a number of the Marlins’ top prospects, the talent is obvious. But the timeline for when they will truly be ready to reach the big leagues is not.

One of the biggest bright spots in an already promising Spring Training for the Marlins has been the progress made by some of their better prospects. Shortstop Jazz Chisholm and first baseman Lewin Diaz, the club’s No. 3 and No. 7 prospects per MLB Pipeline, are two of the organization’s projected core players of the future.

Both have a chance to be big league regulars, though neither has played above Double-A. They have each produced and impressed in Spring Training, with their performance, work habits, and clear desire to make the team out of camp.

Still, manager Don Mattingly is quick to pump the brakes when talking about all his young players.

“Number one, you have a plan for everybody from the development side of it,” Mattingly said on Saturday morning. “And you know you don’t want to get fooled by Spring Training, and you want to continue development for guys.”

Even if it is inevitable that Chisholm and Díaz will start the season at either Double-A Jacksonville or Triple-A Wichita, both of them are on the 40-man roster and could make a quick rise to the big leagues at some point in 2020.

“I’ve been trying to show what I have,” Díaz said through an interpreter. “My goal was actually to make the team. One of the first things I did was to play winter ball. I learned a lot of things from the veteran players in the Dominican Republic.”

Díaz leads the Marlins in games played this spring, with 11, and he’s hitting .333 (6-for-18) with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs. Chisholm leads the team in walks, with four, and is hitting .273 with a .467 on-base percentage in eight games played.

Chisholm says he’s primarily focused on shortening his swing this spring. A high strikeout rate (32.1 percent in 2019) is something the left-handed-hitting 22-year-old is working on lowering, which is why he has spent a lot of time hitting off a tee. In Grapefruit League games, he says he has swung and missed at a pitch in the zone just once, and he has only swung at a pitch out of the zone once.

“I feel like I’m in a good spot right now, because I’m not really hitting the ball in the air right now,” Chisholm said. “I’m feeling good about that, because it’s easier to work from down, up.”

Chisholm says that in the next few days, he will try to do more damage on pitches he has been tracking and trying to make solid contact.

“I feel my at-bats have been really good,” Chisholm said. “I’m seeing the ball well. Taking balls and swinging at strikes.”

Díaz has a slightly unconventional batting stance, keeping his hands close to his belt, lower than many hitters. It’s something he started doing a year ago, and he has still shown the ability to catch up to pitches up in the zone.

“It’s kind of a way to deceive the pitcher, too,” Díaz said. “The pitcher might not think I can hit the high ball. Thank goodness I have quick hands and I can get that ball up there.”

Díaz, acquired last July from the Twins as part of the Sergio Romo trade, appeared in 121 Minor League games last season, including 64 at Double-A Pensacola and Jacksonville. He finished with a slash line of .270/.321/.530 with 27 home runs and 76 RBIs.

While Chisholm and Díaz’s performances this spring have certainly been impressive, they don’t tell the full story in terms of development, according to Mattingly.

“You can see the numbers, see the projections, and see what you think they can be or whatever,” Mattingly said. “Right now, you get a chance to see them on the field and see how they’re handling stuff.

“Watching them and how they’re handling at-bats, handling games, handling situations. All of those things tell you a little bit of a story that you don’t know until you see them live.”