How Yuli Gurriel, Jose Iglesias fared in their first spring game with Miami Marlins

Although they just signed a few days ago, the clock is already ticking in a sense for Yuli Gurriel and Jose Iglesias.

The infielders signed minor-league deals with the Miami Marlins on Friday, leaving them with just over two weeks to make enough of an impression on the front office and coaching staff to show they are ready and worthy of spots on the Opening Day roster when the season begins on March 30.

They got their first chance on Monday when they were in the starting lineup for the Marlins’ 9-3 spring training loss to the New York Mets after taking at-bats on the back fields on Saturday and Sunday. Iglesias started at shortstop, while Gurriel was the designated hitter.

Iglesias hitting a flyout to right and a groundout to shortstop in his two at-bats while properly fielded both groundballs that came his way over four innings in the field, the second of which started a double play in the second inning.

Gurriel hit a single to center in his third and final at-bat after hitting a groundout to first base and striking out swinging the first two times to the plate.

“It’s all about timing for them right now, defensively and offensively,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “A lot of these guys [they faced] were in mid-spring-season form and they’re just starting out. All things considered ... they’re right where they’re supposed to be right now.”

The Marlins, Gurriel and Iglesias are trying to find the right balance between accelerating the infielders’ preparation while not overdoing it and risking injury. Both players saw extensive time on the back fields, taking five or six at-bats against minor-league competition on Saturday and Sunday after going through a full workout on Friday.

But there’s still an adjustment period, one both veterans are trying to figure out quickly.

Gurriel, who spent his first seven MLB seasons with the Houston Astros, said his timing at the plate Monday was “a little better than I was hoping for” before adding “I do need to make some changes to my routine to speed up the process and get ready for Opening Day.”

Iglesias said he felt good at the plate although he mistimed a couple of his swings.

“It’s normal, especially for the first game,” Iglesias said. “Every day is just going to get better.”

Schumaker said the two are scheduled to be off Tuesday and return to the lineup Wednesday. The team is off Thursday.

After that, Schumaker said the Marlins will see how they feel and then “they’ll start playing as much as they can.”

“You have to make decisions here in a couple of weeks,” Schumaker said. “You look at the history of both those players and they’re legit big leaguers. Sometimes the older guys, they know what it takes to get ready, so they take all spring to ramp up and they know what they need to do. Now, it’s two weeks, so the concern for me is just how much playing time do you give them without having to push them or them feeling they have to be pushed and getting injured because they’re trying to fight for a spot, make a team or make an impression with two weeks left.”

This and that

▪ Left-handed pitcher Braxton Garrett was charged with five earned runs on six hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings on Monday. He struck out three and threw 71 pitches (44 strikes). Garrett was pulled with two outs in the third inning after throwing 21 pitches in the frame and allowing four consecutive batters to reach batting after recording outs to the first two batters he faced. He re-entered in the fourth and was pulled again with two on and two outs in the fifth.

▪ Right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera pitched three innings in a minor-league game on the back fields of the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex Monday.

▪ Tanner Scott and A.J. Puk each threw a scoreless inning in their second spring training outings, with Scott striking out one over a perfect, 12-pitch sixth inning and Puk striking out two and working around one hit in a 15-pitch eighth inning.

▪ The Marlins on Monday announced they reassigned infielder Charles Leblanc to minor-league camp. Leblanc, who made his MLB debut last season, did not play in Grapefruit League games this spring while dealing with back stiffness during camp.

▪ Schumaker on attending the Sunday night World Baseball Classic game between Venezuela and Puerto Rico at Miami’s loanDepot park: “Pretty electric atmosphere. Good seeing a couple of our players play. The excitement in that stadium was playoff-type. Without the pitch clock, it was eye-opening. I left in the fifth — two hours and 30 minutes into it or whatever it was. I guess I didn’t realize how much the pitch clock effects everything, but it was a fun game to watch. All-Stars everywhere.”