Winding baseball journey that Marlins’ Cooper ‘wouldn’t trade’ leads to first All-Star nod
This is the first in a three-part series highlighting the Miami Marlins’ representatives at the 2022 MLB All-Star Game.
Garrett Cooper has never been one to shy away from expressing his confidence in himself. He views himself as one of the top hitters in Major League Baseball — “top 20” he said at least twice in spring training — but until this year felt he never had the chance to fully showcase his potential.
He was a late bloomer, not making his MLB debut until he was 26 years old.
And once started getting opportunity to be a regular starter, injuries got in the way. Cooper had seven injured list stints from 2018 to 2021 after being traded to the Miami Marlins from the New York Yankees.
But this year? A clean bill of health through the first half of the season has given Cooper the chance to fully showcase what he can do at the plate. He enters Sunday with a .287 batting average that ranks 14th in the National League and a career-high 21 doubles to go along with seven home runs, 40 RBI and 28 runs scored.
“When he’s been able to stay on the field, he hits,” manager Don Mattingly said. “When he gets consistent at-bats, he hits. It’s pretty clear that this guy is pretty productive from that standpoint.”
The reward? His first All-Star Game nomination at age 31, an opportunity he doesn’t take for granted much like his path despite the frustrations that have come with it at times.
“To be in this spot, making it at 31 or 25, it’s really no different,” said Cooper, who was a roster replacement in the National League with starting designated hitter Bryce Harper sidelined with a thumb injury. “You can always say that you’re an All-Star whenever you’re done with the sport and you’re done playing and you’re a normal dad and you experience life outside of baseball. That will be really cool to say.”
The addition of the universal designated hitter — a move Cooper has been a staunch advocate for — has greatly benefited Cooper. It allows him to stay in the lineup even when he’s not playing in the field.
What has stood out the most about Cooper’s work at the plate this season?
“The quality of his plate appearances — not just the results, but the quality of his plate appearances overall,” Marlins bench coach James Rowson said. “He knows what he wants to do up there. You don’t see any panic and you don’t see any rush in him. He takes his at-bats methodically and with that, he’s a successful hitter. He’s always hit, so you can always look at his history and see he’s always been a good hitter. This year, there’s just something about that added layer of experience and confidence that he’s taken up there with him every time.”
READ MORE: A look at Garrett Cooper and his ‘Catch 22’ as he balances hitting for average and power
Especially when Cooper takes a bird’s eye view of his career to this point.
He was a sixth-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013 out of Auburn and was traded in July 2017 to the Yankees, with whom he made a brief MLB debut and hit .326 (14 for 43) with five doubles, one triple, six RBI and three runs scored over 13 games over two big-league stints before being sidelined with left hamstring tendinitis.
On Nov. 20, 2017, he and Caleb Smith were traded to the Marlins for right-handed pitcher Michael King — the first trade made by Miami under the Bruce Sherman-led ownership group.
Cooper made the Marlins’ Opening Day roster every season only for injuries to creep up at some point.
2018: Two separate right wrist injuries limited Cooper to just 14 games.
2019: Cooper had two more IL stints, first with a left calf strain and then with a left hand contusion after being hit by a pitch in his first game back. He played a career-high 107 games that season and hit .281 with career-best marks in home runs (15), RBI (50) and runs scored (52).
2020: Cooper was one of 18 Marlins player to test positive for COVID-19 at the start of the season and wound up played just 34 of a possible 60 regular-season games as the Marlins reached the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
2021: Cooper injured his left elbow in a July 18 game against the Philadelphia Phillies and ultimately underwent Tommy John surgery after playing just 71 games. He also missed time earlier in the season with a lumbar strain.
So far through 2022, Cooper has managed to stay on the field despite minor scares at various points — a pair of hit by pitches, a collision with a teammate on the field in a defensive miscommunication and most recently a foul ball off his knee among them. He has played in 80 of Miami’s 90 games.
“Everyone’s got their different journey,” Cooper said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything — well, maybe the injuries I would trade a little bit for, but it just makes getting to this point bittersweet.”
And now he will share a clubhouse with some of the league’s best hitters — the likes of Albert Pujols, Manny Machado and Paul Goldschmidt — as he relishes his first All-Star experience.
“Just to be in the same headwind as those kinds of guys and to be in the same space as that, that’s all you can ask for in your career as you progress,” Cooper said. “It’s something that I thought could have been done — maybe some people didn’t — but to be healthy and to put up numbers is what I came into this year to do, and I’ve done so far.”
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