Roster moves

Marlins make more cuts and clear up most position battles.

JUPITER — More notable than the players cut by the Miami Marlins on Tuesday is what it means for those still in big league camp.

The Marlins optioned left-hander Justin Nicolino, left-hander Hunter Cervenka, right-hander Brian Ellington and catcher Tomas Telis to Triple-A New Orleans, bringing a new degree of clarity to the roster decisions the organization has to make this week.

That’s good news for lefty Adam Conley in his fight to hang on to a rotation spot and right-hander Nick Wittgren in his effort to break camp in the major league bullpen, among others.

“I think we’re pretty much there with what we’re going to do,” manager Don Mattingly said of the looming personnel decisions. “You pretty much can look. … You know the guys we optioned. We’re pretty much down to the wire, to the one [bench] spot.”

Based the Marlins’ moves and the rest of Mattingly’s comments Tuesday morning, here is what the team is looking at with their all-but-official roster choices.

(The Marlins don’t need to lock in their roster until noon Sunday, but Mattingly said the Marlins won’t take more than 25 players with them to Washington, D.C., on Saturday.)

Fifth starter Adam Conley

Nicolino was considered a candidate for the No. 5 starter job. Now it’s officially down to Conley and right-hander Jose Urena, and the former of those two is unofficially the winner.

Mattingly said the team’s decision-makers have to consider the pitchers’ bigger picture, not just the past month-plus.

“[Conley’s] spring hasn’t been great, and we know that,” Mattingly said. “But his body of work has been pretty good.”

Conley had a 3.85 ERA and 1.40 WHIP in 25 starts last season, with similar numbers in a shorter stint the year before. Urena has been less consistent — with less consistent major league playing time and roles — in the same span.

Nicolino, though, made it tough on the Marlins. After early spring struggles, mechanical tweaks helped stabilize his performance. He allowed one earned run over 12 innings in his last three Grapefruit League games.

“[Optioning Nicolino] was probably our toughest decision. He pitched really well in spring,” Mattingly said. “I shouldn’t say surprised because we know it’s there, but coming into camp I kind of looked at him as an outside chance, really, and he’s really opened a lot of eyes and a lot of conversation about who that fifth guy should be.”

Long reliever Jose Urena

If Conley rounds out the rotation, Urena — who is out of options — would open the year as a long reliever. This is the same place it looked like the Marlins would end up at the start of spring training, even if they took a bit of a circuitous path to get here.

Nicolino, again, was an alternative. But the Marlins decided he is more valuable staying stretched out

as a starter.

“The one thing about putting him in the ’pen is the danger is we’d go a month and our starters are pitching really well,” Mattingly said. “Somebody goes down after that, and he’s not built up anymore.” Extra reliever Nick Wittgren

Sending Cervenka and Ellington (and Nicolino) to New Orleans clears the path for Wittgren to break camp with the big league team as the eighth reliever.

All three relievers have options, and all three are likely to bounce between the majors and minors this year. But it’ll be Wittgren — who had a 3.14 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 48 games last year — who gets the first shot.

This spot opened up because lefty Jeff Locke (bicep tendinitis) is expected to miss at least all of April.

Bench player Tyler Moore (or Matt den Dekker or Brandon Barnes)

That leaves one 25-man roster spot to fill, a reserve role created by Martin Prado heading to the disabled list with a hamstring (and utility man Derek Dietrich mostly filling in at third). The chosen player will likely be around only a couple of weeks until Prado returns.

“We think the spot’s an offensive position for what we’re wanting to do,” Mattingly said. “First base is one of the things we think we’d need to be able to do, being able to play some outfield helps, things like that.”

Tyler Moore, in camp on a minor league deal, plays first base and left field. Fellow non-roster invitees Brandon Barnes and Matt den Dekker are outfielders who have been learning first base this spring. All three have the opportunity to opt-out of their contracts this week.

Any of them making the 25-man roster would require clearing a spot on the 40-man.

Moore (five homers, one double) and den Dekker (four homers, three doubles) have shown some pop in their strong spring showings at the plate, Barnes less so.

If Moore is the Marlins’ choice, he could spell Justin Bour at first base against lefties. Moore hit .262/.320/.455 against southpaw starters in parts of four big league seasons with the Washington Nationals.

Mattingly said pinchhitting will be a major part of this spot. Moore hasn’t been a good pinch-hitter in his career (.121/.183/.252 in 115 plate appearances). Barnes (.260/.304/.469 in 105 plate appearances) and den Dekker (.243/.300/ .378 in 40 plate appearances) have fared better.

The Marlins have 33 players remaining in big league camp.

Odds and ends

The optioning of Telis is another indication A.J. Ellis (hamstring strain) should be good to go for Opening Day.

Right-hander Odri samer Despaigne (oblique injury) threw to live batters Tuesday morning. He has missed most of spring training and will be starting pitching depth with New Orleans.

Second baseman Dee Gordon had a wisdom tooth removed, so he’s sitting out for a couple days.