Sights, sounds and notes from first day of Marlins Summer Camp

Summer Camp opened at Marlins Park on Friday underneath a mostly closed roof. Team activities for the first time in 112 days!

The artificial turf—newly installed for the 2020 MLB season—is still in pristine condition:

Daniel Álvarez Montes of El Extrabase gives us a peek at the interior of the ballpark from several other angles:

“Some players’ (COVID-19 test) results are still being received back from the lab,” the team says. Of the 42 players expected to spend camp training at Marlins Park, these 18 tested negative for the virus and formed the first group of participants on Friday: Sandy Alcantara, Jorge Alfaro, Eddy Álvarez, Jeff Brigham, Francisco Cervelli, Garrett Cooper, Ryan Cook, Caleb Smith, Isan Díaz, Corey Dickerson, Monte Harrison, Elieser Hernandez, Pablo López, Harold Ramirez, Miguel Rojas, Sterling Sharp, Jonathan Villar and Jordan Yamamoto.

The second player group that took the field mid-afternoon included 13 others: Jon Berti, Adam Conley, Robert Dugger (celebrating his 25th birthday), Yimi García, Ryan Lavarnway, Sean Rodríguez, Magneuris Sierra, Josh A. Smith, Ryne Stanek, Drew Steckenrider, Stephen Tarpley, José Ureña and Chad Wallach.

Manager Don Mattingly later admitted that an unspecified number of players/staff have tested positive. The negative personnel were screened for a high temperature and other symptoms when entering the facility this morning. Everybody who reported to the workout was seemingly healthy and allowed in.

Mattingly emphasized the importance of developing new routines under these unusual circumstances that will put players in a position to be successful once the real games begin.

Marlins team photographer Joseph Guzy was on hand for the workout (bottom-left corner of this clip), so expect to see plenty of high-res photos posted to Marlins In Focus over the weekend:

It was an eery juxtaposition to hold this workout inside Marlins Park while an adjacent parking lot was being used for drive-thru COVID-19 testing. The testing site has been open since late March, but in the midst of Florida’s extreme spike in cases—another 9,488 new ones confirmed in the state on Thursday alone—the line of cars was especially long.

Team workouts will continue on Saturday.