Meet the 28 players who make up the Miami Marlins’ 2022 Opening Day roster
The Miami Marlins open the 2022 MLB season on Friday with a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
Here’s a look at the 28 players who comprise the Marlins’ Opening Day roster. Rosters will condense to 26 players — 13 pitchers, 13 position players — starting May 2.
Position players
Jacob Stallings — C
Stallings, 32, was the National League’s Gold Glove Award winner last season. Miami acquired him in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates with the anticipation that his work behind the plate will provide a boost to the team’s pitching staff.
Payton Henry — C
Henry, 24, was a trade deadline acquisition from the Milwaukee Brewers last season and will serve as Stallings’ backup.
Jesus Aguilar — 1B
Aguilar, 31, led the National League in RBI until he suffered a season-ending knee injury in September. He has a .794 on-base-plus-slugging mark with 30 home runs and 127 RBI over his two seasons in Miami so far.
Garrett Cooper - 1B
Cooper, 31, will split time with Aguilar at first base and designated hitter. He’s a career .282 hitter but has missed significant time each of his four seasons with Miami.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. — 2B
Chisholm, 24, flashed his combination of speed (23 stolen bases) and power (42 extra-base hits, including 18 home runs) during his first full MLB season but also struck out a lot (28.6 percent) and committed 24 errors on defense. A breakout season could be in the works if he shores up those latter two areas.
Miguel Rojas — SS
The Marlins’ de-facto team captain signed a two-year contract extension this offseason, keeping him in Miami through 2023. While known for his defense, Rojas set career highs in doubles (30) and runs scored (66) last season while posting a .265 batting average.
Joey Wendle - 3B/2B/SS
Wendle, acquired this offseason in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, will primarily play third base and provides another left-handed bat in Miami’s lineup. He can also play either middle infield spot when Rojas or Chisholm need a day off.
Brian Anderson — 3B/OF
Wendle’s presences gives the Marlins the opportunity to deploy Anderson as a utility player. Third base will still likely be his primary position, splitting time there with Wendle, but he also could see time at any of the three outfield spots. Anderson is coming off a choppy 2021, a season in which he played just 67 games and had three separate injured list stints.
Jon Berti — INF/OF
Berti will once again serve as Miami’s utility player off the bench and will be valuable as a defensive replacement and pinch runner.
Avisail Garcia — OF
Garcia, a career .270 hitter with 127 home runs and 475 RBI, provides power in the heart of Miami’s lineup. He signed a four-year, $53 million deal this offseason.
Jesus Sanchez — OF
Sanchez showed some pop with 14 home runs in 64 MLB games last season. How he adjusts to playing center field on a regular basis will be one of the true tests for the Marlins this season.
Jorge Soler — OF
The 2021 World Series MVP was the final key piece the Marlins brought in to improve their lineup. He hit 27 home runs last season and has 121 in his MLB career. He’ll mainly play left field and as designated hitter.
Bryan De La Cruz — OF
De La Cruz immediately impressed after the Marlins acquired him last July, hitting .296 with five home runs, 19 RBI and 17 runs scored in 58 games. He’ll serve as a fourth outfielder.
Starting pitchers
Sandy Alcantara
Alcantara is the Marlins’ Opening Day starter for a third consecutive season. Last year, he became just the fifth pitcher in Marlins history to pitch at least 200 innings and record at least 200 strikeouts in the same season.
Pablo Lopez
Lopez had a fantastic first half of the 2021 season — including tying an MLB record with nine consecutive strikeouts to begin a game — but only pitched two innings after the All-Star Break due to a right shoulder injury. The talent is there, but at what point does durability become a concern?
Trevor Rogers
Rogers finished 2021 as the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year. The 24-year-old lefty has been working on his slider to add a quality third pitch to go with his fastball and changeup.
Elieser Hernandez
Each of Hernandez’s last two seasons have been sidetracked by injuries — a strained right lat in 2020 and then biceps inflammation followed by a quad strain in 2021. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff but both his slider and changeup induce a lot of swings and misses — 32.7 percent and 33.3 percent, respectively, last year.
Jesus Luzardo
Luzardo struggled in 12 starts with the Marlins last season after being acquired from the Oakland Athletics in the Starling Marte trade (6.44 ERA, .269 batting average against, 1.60 walks and hits per inning). Improving his fastball command will be key for any chance of a turnaround.
Bullpen
Shawn Armstrong
A non-roster invite to spring training, Armstrong has made 153 career relief appearances. He overlapped with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. in Seattle in 2018.
Anthony Bass
Bass will once again be used in high-leverage situations this season. He was primarily used in the seventh and eighth innings last season, his first with the Marlins.
Anthony Bender
Bender went from pitching in an independent ball league in 2020 to making his MLB debut and throwing in high-leverage situations for the Marlins in 2021. He primarily uses a sinker-slider combo but is adding a changeup back to his repertoire.
Richard Bleier
Bleier is the Marlins’ primary high-leverage left-handed reliever. He’s a groundball pitcher (68 percent of balls in play against him in 2021 were on the ground) and his 2.7 percent walk rate last season ranked in the top percent of the league among qualified pitchers.
Daniel Castano
Castano has a career 3.78 ERA over 12 MLB appearances (10 starts) since making his MLB debut in 2020. The lefty will be one of the Marlins’ two long relievers to start the season.
Louis Head
Miami acquired Head from the Rays early in the offseason. The 31-year-old had a 2.32 ERA in 27 appearances last season and figures to be a middle reliever.
Steven Okert
Okert gives the Marlins a trustworthy left-handed pitcher for middle-leverage situations. He had a 2.75 ERA in 34 appearances last season and produced a 36.8 percent swing and miss rate with his slider
Cody Poteet
Poteet was a spot starter for the Marlins last season when the rotation dealt with injuries and Miami is now moving him to a bullpen role as a long reliever. His changeup was his best pitch last year (.083 batting average against, 35.3 percent swing and miss rate) and his fastball averaged 93.6 mph.
Tanner Scott
Scott, acquired at the end of spring training from the Baltimore Orioles, is a pitcher of extremes: His swing-and-miss rate last season (36.8 percent) ranked in the 98th percentile but his 14.7 percent walk rate was among baseball’s worst.
Cole Sulser
Sulser was projected to be the Orioles’ closer before being traded to Miami. At the very least, the 32-year-old righty will get looks in high-leverage situations with the Marlins.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 1:56 PM.
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