Jeter assesses Marlins’ first four weeks of the season: ‘It’s a long season for a reason’
The 2021 major-league season is nearly a month old, the Miami Marlins have been through a lot and Derek Jeter is taking some positives from it.
Four starters are already sidelined with injuries. Two rookies are quickly emerging as bona fide major-league stars. Despite a sub-.500 start to the season, the Marlins are in the thick of the National League East race after the first four weeks of the season.
All told, Jeter is happy with the way his team has handled its early season adversity to keep within 1 1/2 games of the first-place New York Mets.
“We got out the gates a little slow, right? Whenever you do that, I think it stands out a little bit more because you haven’t built up a foundation, but our guys have been battling. We’ve been dealing with some injuries, but that’s something that every team deals with. There’s other teams that have injuries, as well,” the CEO said outside loanDepot park in Miami, where the Marlins were giving away their 1 millionth meal as part of their COVID-19 relief efforts. “I like the fact that we rely on our pitching, especially our starting pitcher. I think they’ve done a great job and some of the bats are starting to get going, as well, but it’s a long season.”
Rookie middle infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. got out to a red-hot start before landing on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain Tuesday. Rookie starting pitcher Trevor Rogers already looks like one of baseball’s best with a 1.29 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 28 innings to start the year.
Corey Dickerson is putting together a bounce-back season to help fill the void with fellow outfielder Starling Marte sidelined. Sandy Leon and Chad Wallach are filling in admirably with fellow catcher Jorge Alfaro injured. Miami even recently promoted shortstop Jose Devers to the majors, even though the rookie had never played above Class A Advanced.
They have all played a role in keeping the Marlins (10-13) in contention after a 1-6 start to the year.
“It’s a long season for a reason, but hopefully we get some of our guys back sooner rather than later,” Jeter said. “Any time you go through the number of injuries that we’ve gone through, it tests the organizational depth, so it gives other guys an opportunity.”
The rookies, in particular, are making the most of them. Rogers has been Miami’s most valuable player, in terms of Baseball-Reference.com’s wins above replacement, and Chisholm has been second.
Jeter wants to see how Rogers fares once the league starts to adjust to him.
“He’s had some success and I think once you have a little bit of success you’re confidence starts to build, and then at the same time the league’s going to adjust to you. Second time around’s a little bit more difficult,” Jeter said. “He’s going to have to make some adjustments.”
He feels the same way about Chisholm, who’s batting .290 with four home runs.
“He’s having some success early on here, but we have a long season to go,” Jeter said. “You play 162 games for a reason and people start to figure out your weaknesses, they try to exploit it and it’s up to you to make some adjustments. That’s the fun part of it. Like I tell all of our players: ‘You’ve had some success, you’re going to struggle, it’s coming. It’s how you’re going to respond to it.’”
How COVID is affecting Marlins
The new guidelines set by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday won’t immediately affect the Marlins’ game-day protocols. Miami won’t be increasing capacity yet and fans will still be required to wear masks at the ballpark, Jeter said.
“They haven’t changed the rules and regulations for masks in the stadium,” Jeter said. “In large gatherings, you’re still required to wear the mask. We’re looking forward to one day hopefully getting back to 100 percent capacity and no one having to wear a mask, but we rely on the local government officials, and the health-and-safety protocols that we follow from them and the league, as well. I hope one day that we’re not wearing these masks. I’d like to see people’s smiles again, but at this particular point we’re just not there yet.”
Jeter is optimistic capacity will increase as the season goes on, though.
Miami is currently filling the park to about 25 percent, meaning attendance has peaked at 7,062 for the 36,742-capacity stadium.
“We have single-game tickets on sale through the end of June, so we’re hopeful that capacity increases toward the second half of the year, but that’s entirely to up to how many people get vaccinated and the local officials here,” Jeter said. “I am hopeful.”
Jeter is also optimistic the Marlins will hit the 85 percent threshold for vaccinated players and coaches, which would allow MIami to relax some of its COVID protocols.
Several players got their first shot in the opening week of the season, which means they’re nearing the time for their second.
“It’s still a little early to tell, but I hope we do because once you hit that 85 percent threshold then some of the safety protocols are relaxed,” Jeter said. “I guess time will tell, but I’m hopeful.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 2:14 PM.
