One sixth of the way through this most peculiar of seasons, the Miami Marlins own the National League East's best winning percentage (.700) and stand at 7-3 despite losing two in a row and despite the continued absence of 18 players due to COVID-19.
Assessing where they stand at each position heading into Tuesday's two-game series against Toronto in Buffalo, New York:
_ First base: The Marlins need to wrap Jesus Aguilar in tin foil and keep him safe all summer, because he's turning out to be one of MLB's best low-risk, somewhat under-the-radar signings of the offseason.
Not only does his four home runs lead all National League first basemen, but he has done it in just 10 games _ fewer than most other regular NL first basemen. What's more, he's hitting .306 with a .341 on base average.
If he keeps this up, the Marlins will have no choice but to offer him arbitration this winter, with a substantial raise inevitable after making $2.75 million this season.
_ Second base: With Isan Diaz opting out of the remainder of the 2020 season, Jon Berti remains probably the best internal option until shortstop Miguel Rojas returns, which would allow Jonathan Villar to move over to second.
But that's no longer clear cut, with career minor-leaguer and former speedskater Eddy Alvarez collecting three hits Sunday on a day Villar was the designated hitter and Berti played shortstop.
Berti has struggled early (.172, 5 for 29). The hope is that he can produce numbers similar to last year _ .273, 6, 24 in 73 games.
Already this season, Berti has played second base, shortstop, right field and center field.
Journeyman addition Logan Forsythe (.231 in 14 at-bats) has played one game at first base, one at second base and two as a DH.
_ Shortstop: Villar is comfortable there but could return to second base or center field once Rojas is healthy.
It's remarkable that Miami has started 7-3 with very little offense from Villar, who's hitting .195 (8 for 41), with one homer and four RBI. He's going to get hot at some point.
As for Rojas, he tweeted Friday: "I've been getting the question on when I'll be coming back. I'm feeling 100% healthy now, but the protocol (says) that I need to test negative two times in a row and I haven't (had) a negative result back yet. After that happen I need to get back to baseball shape."
Those are two critical points made by Rojas, and the reason not to assume that any of the missing bats (Rojas, Garrett Cooper, Jorge Alfaro, Harold Ramirez) are returning imminently. Keep in mind that Matt Joyce was out from the beginning of July 6 workouts until the Marlins activated him when play resumed Aug. 4.
Another key Marlin who has been sidelined (not Rojas) conveyed that he, too, has had one negative test result but not two in a row.
So patience is needed for these 18 who tested positive for COVID-19.
_ Third base: Brian Anderson has been very good (.303, 2 homers, 9 RBI) with nine of his 10 games at third base and the other at first base (first time in his career). He has two errors at third but that's not a concern, since he's a plus defender.
The question is whether the Marlins, this winter, will offer him a deal that would cover his arbitration years and a couple of free agent years. That would be a smart move.
He's under team control through 2023, and MLB Network's Craig Mish said there were extension discussions a few months ago but nothing materialized.
_ Catcher: While the Marlins await Alfaro's return from COVID, Francisco Cervelli has capably handled a patchwork pitching staff while hitting just .192 (5 for 26, with two homers and four RBI).
Ryan Lavarnway, a career .211 hitter, is 2 for 6 in limited work, with Chad Wallach also on the injured list.
_ Outfield: As is the case with Villar, it's remarkable the Marlins are 7-3 with Corey Dickerson _ perhaps their best pure hitter _ hitting .229, with one homer and one RBI. He's too good a hitter (.285 career) for that to continue, and he will assuredly continue to play every day in left.
Cooper is going to play _ either in right or DH _ when he's healthy, and Ramirez likely will too. But nothing is imminent on that front.
In the meantime, the Marlins are hoping Joyce (2 for 13, six strikeouts) can round into form quickly after a long layoff, and that the kids (Monte Harrison, Lewis Brinson and Magneuris Sierra) can contribute something offensively.
It has been a tough first week for Harrison, who's 2 for 16 with nine strikeouts. It's far too soon to judge, but Miami needs Harrison to become a quality starter or the Christian Yelich trade (for Harrison, Brinson, Diaz, Jordan Yamamoto) will remain the only glaring personnel misstep of this new regime.
Brinson, who missed July Marlins Park workouts, is 0 for 8, and he needs to somehow hit this season to salvage his Marlins career.
Sierra is 3 for 9 _ and 1 for 1 on steals _ and there remains at least hope he can evolve into a long-term fourth or fifth outfielder. He has value as a late-game pinch-runner, to be sure.
_ Starting pitching: The Marlins continue to try to survive without their top three starters (Jose Urena, Sandy Alcantara, Caleb Smith), all of whom need the two negative tests before they can begin throwing off a mound again and rebuilding their arm strength.
In the meantime, Pablo Lopez (1-1, 1.80) has been solid, though control (four walks) was an issue in his five-inning start Sunday.
Elieser Hernandez (no runs in 4 ? innings) has good stuff and a real opportunity to keep a rotation spot all season.
Yamamoto (9.0 ERA in four innings) was hit hard in his start last week, and the question, as former Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd told me, is whether he's a fit for a bullpen role eventually. He's unlikely to be a long-term rotation piece here.
It's undetermined whether promising prospect Daniel Castano will get another start after struggling in his first one over the weekend (four runs in 4 ? innings).
Like the top three rotation pieces, Robert Dugger also remains sidelined. And hard-throwing prospect Jorge Guzman, who the Marlins have trained as a starter, was demoted to the taxi squad after allowing two runs in one inning in his big-league debut.
The two days off this week help the situation, but there will be a need for another reliever to start a game in the next week or so.
Among the top pitching prospects, Sixto Sanchez continues to work at Jupiter, and Edward Cabrera is back throwing after dealing with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder. If they're summoned later this season, the issue of service time and arbitration eligibility becomes far less of a concern.
_ Bullpen: This would take an hour. My colleague Jordan McPherson or I will deal with this later in the week, with lots of moving pieces.
