Okert’s ‘full circle’ moment headlines 8 Marlins players on first Opening Day roster
It’s only fitting that Steven Okert’s first season making an Opening Day roster begins at Oracle Park. The left-handed relief pitcher was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round of the 2012 MLB Draft and spent the first seven years of his professional baseball career in the Giants organization — including parts of three seasons in the big leagues from 2016-2018.
But on Friday, he enjoyed the Opening Day festivities from the visitor’s dugout as a member of the Miami Marlins.
“It kind of comes full circle,” Okert said, “back to where it started.”
Okert is one of eight players on Miami’s 28-man roster experiencing Opening Day on an MLB roster for the first time. The group includes five relievers, two outfielders and a catcher.
Of the group, though, Okert is the only one who made his MLB debut prior to the 2020 season.
He joined the Marlins in 2021 and impressed, pitching to a 2.75 ERA with 40 strikeouts against 15 walks over a single-season career-high 36 innings in 34 relief appearances.
He’s learned to utilize the top of the strike zone and he threw his slider a lot more often — a career-high 59.6 percent usage rate.
“I never threw up in the zone before,” Okert said. “It was always fastballs down, sliders down. Coming here, they wanted me throwing fastballs up and pairing that with a slider. It’s worked out so far.”
Here’s a look at the other seven Marlins players joining Okert on the Opening Day roster for the first time in their MLB careers.
▪ Right-handed pitcher 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.
With Dylan Floro (right rotator cuff tendinitis) starting on injured reserve, Bender will get the first crack as the Marlins’ closer.
▪ Left-handed pitcher Daniel Castano: Castano has a career 3.78 ERA over 12 MLB appearances (10 starts) since making his MLB debut in 2020.
Castano said the team told him he would be on the trip as spring training ended but not necessarily whether he would be on the active roster or the taxi squad. He got the sigh of relief when the roster was formally announced Thursday.
“There’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of expectations,” Castano said, “but it’s sweet to have a little accomplishment like this.”
The lefty will be one of the Marlins’ two long relievers to start the season.
▪ Outfielder Bryan De La Cruz: The Marlins optioned De La Cruz to Triple A Jacksonville early in spring training, but the roster construction as spring training closed — specifically the acquisition of relievers Cole Sulser and Tanner Scott — had the Marlins choose to call De La Cruz back up so they have their fourth outfielder come internally.
With that said, he immediately impressed after the Marlins acquired him last July, hitting .296 with five home runs, 19 RBI and 17 runs scored in 58 games.
“It was a great experience for me,” De La Cruz said of his MLB debut last year. “I dreamed about that moment and the moment was there.”
▪ Right-handed pitcher 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.
▪ Catcher Payton Henry: Henry, 24, was a trade deadline acquisition from the Milwaukee Brewers last season and will serve as Jacob Stallings’ backup. Henry had limited action last year, just five games, but the Marlins like his work behind the plate.
▪ Right-handed pitcher 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.
▪ Outfielder Jesus Sanchez: 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.
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