Our Noticias, 6/29/20: Player pool picks and workout locations; inside “The Clubhouse”

Marlins Player Pool, Version 1.0

The most important takeaway from Sunday’s Marlins club player pool announcement is that there can—and will—be changes made throughout the summer. So far, they have selected 57 players for the pool who will be split into these two groups for 2020 preseason workouts:

The reporting locations are not set in stone, the team states, but it’s more than sheer coincidence that all of the most realistic Opening Day roster candidates are starting off at Marlins Park.

MLB insider Jon Heyman mentioned Friday that first-round draft pick Max Meyer was being strongly considered for inclusion. Although his contract with the Marlins wasn’t finalized by the initial Sunday 4 p.m. ET deadline, Craig Mish and Joe Frisaro both report that Meyer will soon be moving into one of the three vacant spots. Veteran utility man Sean Rodríguez is joining the party, too.

Baseball America weighs in on the Marlins’ decisions from a prospect perspective (subscription required). In order to discuss in greater detail, we will be recording a new episode of Earning Their Stripes on Monday night. Find it on the Fish Stripes podcast feed. Leave a comment on this article if you have any specific questions for us to answer on air!

The most recognizable veteran snubbed from the Marlins pool is former NL MVP Matt Kemp. Coming off a disastrous 2019 campaign, he didn’t produce at the plate during limited Grapefruit League action (.143/.200/.143 in 30 PA). Understandable, though it was confusing to see Kemp’s photo and quote used by the team recently to commemorate the Juneteenth holiday if they didn’t actually want him to report to camp.

The gallery below contains initial player pools for every opponent on the 2020 Marlins regular season schedule, so get familiar:

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Walk-off links

• Episode 2 of The Clubhouse is a conversation between veterans Miguel Rojas and Francisco Cervelli about establishing yourself in the big leagues and paying it forward as a mentor.

• Former Fish Stripes staffer Daniel Toll has launched his own sports publication called Beyond the Scoreboard: Miami. I’m certain he will have thoughtful and entertaining content. Visit this section for his Marlins coverage.
• Five Reasons Sports Network is taking another swing at Marlins coverage, too. The first episode of Loaded Bases has published on their YouTube channel.
• We are still accepting your 2020 predictions, including Marlins breakout player, most valuable player and biggest disappointment.

• Justin Bour is figuratively—but not literally—off to a slow start with the Hanshin Tigers this season.

• Nick Groke of The Athletic ranks Billy the Marlin 21st on his MLB mascot rankings (subscription required).
• Congratulations to recently released Marlins prospect Samuel Castro on his engagement.
• Marlins fan Ethan Eibe combined mobile wallpapers from the team’s graphic design staff into a wide variety of desktop backgrounds. A few examples below:

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