Opening Day roster possibilities

Realmuto, Bour, Gordon and Prado all likely to return

A week from today, Miami Marlins’ pitchers and catchers will report to Jupiter for spring training.

By the end of the month, we’ll be watching exhibition games. You can practically smell Opening Day when the breeze hits just right at certain times of the day.

Now seems like as good a time as any to take a first shot at projecting the Marlins’ initial 25-man roster.

A lot can happen between now and the season opener on April 3 — injuries, trades, scorching spring training job campaigns — but the Marlins are headed into camp with very few roster-related questions. It’s very possible the 25 players named here are indeed the ones who

start off in the majors, even if certain players’ roles are up in the air.

The lineup (eight)

C J.T. Realmuto 1B Justin Bour 2B Dee Gordon 3B Martin Prado SS Adeiny Hechavarria LF Marcell Ozuna CF Christian Yelich RF Giancarlo Stanton

The Marlins decisionmakers were not lying when they said they like their position-player core. These are the same starters the team had the first day of the 2016 season, and — health pending — this will be the first time in franchise history the club starts the same eight position players on back-toback Opening Days.

The only tweak from last year is Ozuna to left and Yelich to center, as we saw in late 2016. Manager Don Mattingly has indicated that will be the case in 2017.

The bench (four)

C A.J. Ellis UTIL Derek Dietrich IF Miguel Rojas OF Ichiro Suzuki

This projection requires very little projection. It remains possible the Marlins decide to carry a fifth man here, but all indications are it will be an eight-man bullpen and short bench. More on that below.

The rotation (five)

LHP Adam Conley LHP Wei-Yin Chen RHP Edinson Volquez RHP Tom Koehler RHP Dan Straily

Let’s not worry about the order in which these pitchers come out of the gate. (Conley and Chen are probably the top two starters, but Mattingly & Co. might want to split up the lefties.)

The top four names seem secure in the rotation. The No. 5 starter job will be up for grabs, with president of baseball operations Michael Hill pointing out the club has Jeff Locke, Jose Urena, Justin Nicolino and Odrisamer Despaigne in addition to Straily.

It’s safe to pencil in Straily as the winner, if only because he had a better 2016 than the other candidates. It would also be a weird look to trade three prospects for Straily only to put him in the bullpen, where he’s pitched 10 times to little success in his major league career.

The bullpen (eight)

RHP A.J. Ramos RHP Brad Ziegler RHP Kyle Barraclough RHP Junichi Tazawa RHP Dustin McGowan RHP David Phelps RHP Jose Urena LHP Jeff Locke

Ramos and Barraclough were very good late-inning relievers in 2016. Ziegler and Tazawa signed this winter to join them. McGowan was solid in mostly low-leverage spots last year and is back on a guaranteed contract. Phelps handled with aplomb any situation the Marlins put him in last season.

That’s six spots in effect locked up, leaving one or two — probably two — up for grabs.

Here, we go with Locke (who has a major league contract and was penciled into the rotation until the Straily trade two weeks ago) and Urena (who is out of minor league option years). Those two and Straily are the safest bets for the No. 5 starter and two long-reliever roles, however it ultimately sorts out.

“Whomever the players are who aren’t a part of that five-man rotation will still pitch valuable innings for us,” Hill said.

Urena’s fate will be among the major storylines of spring training. The Marlins can either keep him on the active roster or designate him for assignment — thus risk losing him to other teams. Urena is a power arm and still only 25, and there are always major league teams that will take a chance on a guy like that. The Marlins could also trade him, but that would be selling low.

“It’s a great arm, and the one thing that you want to do is give him every opportunity to reach his potential,” Hill said. “I think we’ve seen glimpses of it. Obviously, you want to see it on a consistent basis and I think that’s what he’s striving to do. If we are able to see a more consistent version from him, he will help us.”

“It’s a great arm, and the one thing that you want to do is give him every opportunity to reach his potential.” Michael Hill, president of baseball operations, on Jose Urena

AP/FILE Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly has indicated that Marcell Ozuna will move to left.

GETTY IMAGES/FILE Giancarlo Stanton will likely return to right field. Health pending — this will be the first time in franchise history the club starts the same eight position players on back-to-back Opening Days.

GETTY IMAGES/FILE Left-hander Adam Conley is locked in as one of the Marlins starting pitchers.