JUPITER, Fla. -- To compensate for a shortage of starting pitchers in 2018, the Rays introduced the “opener.” The Brewers, meanwhile, took a different tack, and they reached the National League Championship Series by tapping into their bullpen, popularizing full-scale “bullpenning.”

Are the Marlins about to introduce the concept of “rotationing?”

Open to new ideas to maximize their own strength -- starting pitching -- the Marlins are doing some outside-the-box thinking of their own. They are considering carrying six or seven starters to fill five rotation spots. If it works, they may be coining another new baseball phrase.

Nothing has been officially announced, but the front office and coaching staff are weighing whether to adopt some form of rotation system with their starters. Simply, they’d swap in and out of the rotation whoever they felt gave them the best chance that day. The starter(s) left out of the five-game stretch would then be available to pitch in relief.

It’s one strategy the Marlins are considering as they plot their path to getting the necessary 27 outs to win a game.

For Miami, the six or seven for five spots makes sense for several reasons.

Foremost, it allows the Marlins to keep all of their top starting pitchers on the big league roster, rather than shuttle some of them back and forth from Triple-A. Secondly, it enables the MLB staff to monitor usage and create matchups that are best suited for the particular pitcher.

Some starters will be on innings limits anyway. So they can be skipped on occasion and still be used in relief.

Then, there is the reality that all clubs -- not just the Marlins -- need starting depth. Since 2013, the Marlins have used at least 12 starting pitchers in each season. In four of the last five seasons, 13 were used.

The last time Miami went with fewer than 10 starters was 2012, when nine were called upon.

The Marlins haven’t announced their starting five. In fact, they’ve only said that José Ureña will start on Opening Day on Thursday against the Rockies at Marlins Park.

How the rest of the rotation shapes up is to be determined.

Urena is the veteran in the group.

Trevor Richards, Pablo López, Sandy Alcantara and Caleb Smith were all rookies in 2018. Lopez (right shoulder strain), Alcantara (right armpit infection) and Smith (left lat surgery) missed time due to injuries. Another young pitcher could also emerge.

“Other than Dan … we’re pretty youthful,” manager Don Mattingly said. “So you’re getting a lot of young guys without a whole lot of experience who are on the uptick. They are trying to show us what they can do, and show us the improvement that they’re making.”

For the most part, the young starters have had strong Spring Trainings, making it difficult for the organization to option any of them to Triple-A New Orleans.

“We have a really good young pitching staff,” Smith said. “We can throw anyone out there and we’re going to be successful. Our pitching is going to be really good.”

They’ve shown signs in Spring Training. But the reality is, with inexperience comes uncertainty. Plus, the young starters have to be able to endure the grind of a six-month season.

Smith made 16 starts and threw 77 1/3 innings before undergoing surgery last July 9. Lopez appeared in 10 big league games and logged 58 2/3 innings. He missed all of September due to his shoulder issue. Alcantara had six big league starts and missed about two months because of his injury.

Urena paced the team in starts (31) and innings (174) last year, and he has been the Marlins’ most durable starter over the past few seasons.

The bottom line is that the Marlins plan on using six or seven starters, so they may just wind up keeping them all and setting matchups as they go along.

“Whoever goes out there gives it everything they’ve got every single day,” Lopez said. “We come in as a group. We support each other as a group. We give each other feedback. We’re always trying to push everyone.”