MIAMI — The Marlins are planning on switching things up in a big way this season.
“Jazz is a very unique athlete, very dynamic,” Ng said. “He’s got great range, great speed. He’s got a lot of the things that you look for when you’re thinking about center field. We’ve seen how he handles popups, and how he ranges to the ones that are really tough to get to.”
When Miami traded shortstop Miguel Rojas to the Dodgers in early January, it led many to question whether Chisholm would be moved from second to short. The Bahamian All-Star has played both positions in the past, but he has been the Marlins’ Opening Day second baseman the past two seasons.
“We’ve talked about this for a while,” Ng said. “We were never necessarily pressed to think about it meaningfully until probably this offseason. So when this particular opportunity [to pick up Arraez] came up — and we had some of these such scenarios going on — it made us think about it harder.
“[Jazz is] pretty intrigued and interested in this situation as well. So that made it a lot easier.”
Last year, Chisholm was sidelined on June 29 due to lower back problems. It was later determined that he had a stress fracture, which caused him to miss the remainder of the season. So the Marlins turned to a platoon at second base.
But with Friday’s trade, Ng made it clear that Chisholm’s future is in the outfield. Arraez will play second base, with some reps at first base backing up Garrett Cooper. Third base will be Jean Segura’s to manage. And shortstop, while still up for grabs, will likely go to Jordan Groshans, Miami’s No. 11 prospect per MLB Pipeline.
“It’s definitely looking a lot better,” Ng said of the Marlins’ situation heading into Spring Training. “You always want to be better. … Between the additions and the health, we’re in a much better situation than we were six months ago.”