A new look for Marlins Park’s season debut: a first-place team

Marlins Park will have a new look for its 2020 season debut Friday, thanks to cozier dimensions and a switch to artificial turf.

Also, there will be a first-place team in the home dugout.

And that Marlins’ roster looks a lot different than it did when the team last was in Miami, before departing for a season-opening three-game trip. That was more than three weeks ago.

“You feel like you’ve got a quick trip,” manager Don Mattingly said. “You pack hardly nothing, and the next thing you know, a month later, you’ve got to pay rent again.”

The Marlins’ 23-day road odyssey was necessitated by a coronavirus outbreak that infected at least 18 of their players during the opening weekend in Philadelphia. Their season was suspended for a week and the schedule scrambled, including the postponement of eight games at Marlins Park.

With the revised schedule, they’ve played two “home” games on the road. Three weeks into MLB’s 60-game season, the Marlins finally will play in Miami on Friday against Atlanta.

“We talked going into the the season about how it was going to be different,” Mattingly said, “but I didn’t envision this. We’ve been tested early.”

And they’ve passed.