Fresh feedback on Chisholm, who lost arbitration case. And Marlins personnel notes

A six-pack of Marlins notes on a Friday:

▪ Center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. lost his arbitration case on his 26th birthday on Thursday, but the fact the Marlins didn’t settle with him before the deadline to file isn’t a reflection of how they feel about him.

We’re told the new regime likes Chisholm’s upside and views him as someone who can be a component of a winning team.

The new management believes Chisholm is determined to be great and that his heart is in the right place. They view his willingness to move to center field as a sign that he’s a team guy.

The key, of course, is health. He was limited to 60 and 97 games because of injuries during the past two seasons.

He hit .250 (.304 on base) with 19 homers and 51 RBI in 383 plate appearances last season.

And now he will have a second full season in center field.

“Playing center field is cool,” he said last summer. “I feel like I’m good at it. Once I got used to it, I’m really good at it. I feel like I’m probably better in the outfield than I am in the infield. But I just love being an infielder.”

He mentioned one negative about playing center: “I feel I have to get more comfortable with how I’m normally so tired. That’s the only transition from the outfield, running down balls, and having to compose your breath during an at-bat. It’s a little bit more on your body to play the outfield.”

Chisholm missed Fanfest last Friday because he was in the Bahamas awaiting his visa. His appointment was this past Monday and he needed it before he could travel. Jon Berti was the other prominent player who did not attend because his wife is pregnant.

Thursday’s arbitration decision means Chisholm will earn $2.625 million in 2024. He filed at $2.9 million. The case was handled by arbiters Margaret Brogan, Jeanne Vonhof and Scott Buchheit.

Miami still has pending arbitration cases with Luis Arraez and Tanner Scott.

▪ The new Marlins regime is interested in seeing how catcher Will Banfield progresses after by far his best offensive season in the minors. They’re intrigued.

Banfield, a skilled defensive catcher, hit .258 with 23 homers and 76 RBI at Double A Pensacola.

The former 2018 second-round pick, now 24, threw out 23 and 28 percent of basestealers the past two seasons.

▪ Left-hander Braxton Garrett, who had Tommy John (elbow) surgery soon after being drafted by the Marlins, last year counseled Max Meyer through his recovery from the procedure; Meyer is now ready for spring training.

And Garrett can now offer the same counsel to Sandy Alcantara as he sits out the season after undergoing the procedure in October.

So what can Tommy John patients expect?

“I got to talk to Max a little bit last year and anyone going through surgery like that, it’s just such a long process, I just think it’s really important to surround yourself with people who are great examples and keep you working hard and keep you happy,” Garrett said.

“You are doing a lot of the same thing every single day so it can get very boring and maybe you can lose a little motivation. But if you have a good support group, a good training staff and guys like that, they keep you going. There are always setbacks here and there.”

Garrett said it’s impossible to know if a Tommy John patient will return with less velocity.

“It’s different with everyone,” he said. “Some guys recover great and come out throwing a little harder. It takes a little longer for some. I know both of them [Meyer and Alcantara] work extremely hard.”

One positive? “You end up with a stronger shoulder, that’s for sure. You’re strengthening that shoulder to protect that elbow. You learn a lot about your body and how to take care of it. I had Tommy John fresh out of the draft, never been injured in my life, didn’t really know how to take care of my arm. I learned a lot out of that on the fly there.”

▪ The Marlins regard Ryan Weathers — acquired last July for Garrett Cooper — as a swing arm, a long reliever who can start in a pinch. He had two poor starts but one very good one for the Marlins.

He allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings of his first start, five runs in 3 1/3 in his next start but then held Pittsburgh to two hits and no runs in six innings in the final regular-season series.

He has worked on developing a changeup in recent months and making sure it has “separation from my fastball” and hopes that will boost his career.

What has been the difference between his poor starts and good starts?

“Mentality and confidence,” he said. “I can’t use too much of one pitch” unless it’s working really well. “I had a good mix” in that start against Pittsburgh.

He has a 5-15 record and 5.88 ERA in 46 career appearances, including 30 starts for the Padres.

▪ Manager Skip Schumaker mentioned last week that he wants to see offensive improvement from catcher Nick Fortes, who hit .204 last season, and Fortes said he believes he has found a formula to do that after studying videos of his swing and stance.

An offseason priority was “finding something comfortable for me, that I found,” he said. “This offseason was finding a feeling and approach I like.”

Fortes had a poor .263 on base average last season, with six homers and 26 RBI in 323 plate appearances. That was a decline from his numbers in 2022: .230 batting average, .304 on base, nine homers, 24 RBI in 240 plate appearances.

Fortes is expected to share catching duties with Christian Bethancourt, who was acquired from Cleveland for cash.

Fortes said the fact the Marlins didn’t sign a frontline free agent catcher to a major league contract was a show of confidence in him.

“I feel confidence in myself as well,” he said. “I feel I’m in a really good spot.”

The Marlins like how he caught Garrett and Jesus Luzardo, among others. “The guys I caught had career years,” Fortes said.

▪ Bally Sports and the Marlins do not have clarity about the timing of when Amazon Prime will begin streaming the team’s games. It could be at the start of the season or sometime later in the season; a bankruptcy judge is involved in that practice.

What is known: There will be an undetermined charge in addition to Amazon’s regular monthly subscription fee.

For now, the Bally app will continue to stream the games; that app costs $19.99 per month.

And Bally Sports Florida will continue to televise most Marlins games as well.

Incidentally, Bally Sports is retaining its analyst rotation for a third consecutive year. Tommy Hutton, Rod Allen, Gaby Sanchez and Jeff Nelson will return to call games with Paul Severino.