Marlins Set to Begin Grapefruit League Play

The Miami Marlins will begin their Grapefruit League schedule with a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.

The Marlins and Cardinals share the field at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, and will face off several times during their exhibition schedules. In this game, Miami will serve as the home team. On Sunday, the teams will switch roles when the Cardinals wear the home whites.

Miami will use a batting lineup that closely resembles the one it plans to trot out for Opening Day. The only regular who will sit on Saturday is Marcell Ozuna, as the outfielder is battling some minor shoulder discomfort. Ozuna's place in the outfield and in the lineup will go to roster hopeful Destin Hood.

The full lineup will feature Dee Gordon at second base, followed by Martin Prado at third. Christian Yelich (CF), Giancarlo Stanton (RF) and Justin Bour (1B) will be in their normal 3-4-5 slots of the lineup. At the bottom of the order, manager Don Mattingly has penciled in J.T. Realmuto (C), Hood (LF), Adeiny Hechavarria (SS) and A.J. Ellis (DH).

On the mound for the beginning of the action will be Edinson Volquez, and he just may be Miami's Opening Day starter as well. Volquez will likely only work one or two innings, before handing the ball over to Tom Koehler. The Marlins also plan to use several other arms for an inning or so each.

Mattingly will be cautious with all his players, and will likely swap out all the regulars after just two at-bats. This not only will keep his players healthy, but it will give Mattingly a chance to see some of the roster hopefuls in camp. While not many jobs are up for grabs, there will still be opportunities to catch the eyes of the coaching staff.

After the pair of games with the Cardinals this weekend, Miami will take on the Minnesota Twins, New York Mets Houston Astros and Washington Nationals next week. The exhibition schedule is a busy one and Miami won't have a day off until March 8th. The World Baseball Classic will also get underway in early March, and several Marlins will head out of Jupiter for that event.