Where the Marlins are seeking help in the trade market. And updates on outfield situation

The Marlins are canvassing the trade market for upgrades at catcher and shortstop, according to industry sources.

Miami is 28th in baseball in runs per game (3.67) — ahead of only Oakland and Cleveland — and is hoping to generate more offense from those positions.

Among catchers with at least 60 at-bats, Jacob Stallings has MLB’s second-lowest batting average (.149) — ahead of only San Diego’s Austin Nola — and the fourth-lowest on-base percentage (.210). What’s more, Stallings has thrown out only one of 21 base-stealers.

Backup catcher Nick Fortes, hitting .214 (.260 on base), doesn’t look like the answer, either; his bat — which showed flashes last season — hasn’t improved and he has thrown out only three of 25 basestealers.

Among shortstops with more than 40 at-bats, Joey Wendle has MLB’s second-lowest batting average (.163) — ahead of only Boston’s Yu Chang — and third-lowest on-base percentage (.226).

The Marlins have multiple shortstop prospects they feel good about, but none close to the majors. The team is very high on Kahlil Watson, who’s hitting .259 (.404 on base) at High A Beloit. But he’s at least a year or two away.

Catcher, on the other hand, has become a vast wasteland in the Marlins organization.

Of the eight catchers playing regularly for the Marlins’ top four farm teams, only two — as of midweek — were hitting above .200: undrafted third-year player Paul McIntosh (.286) and former second-round pick Will Banfield (.240, .254 on-base). Both play for Double A Pensacola.

At Triple A, Austin Allen and Santiago Chavez both were batting below .200 as of Wednesday. Same with Joe Mack and Bennett Hostetler at High A Beloit and Cameron Barstad and Jan Mercado at Low A Jupiter.

Banfield, skilled defensively; has hit .210 in five minor-league seasons, so projecting him to become a full-time big league catcher is unrealistic, though he has hit better recently and is still fairly young (23).

Mack, the 31st overall pick in 2021 out of a Amherst, New York, high school, is at .186 (.267 on base) with no homers, 10 RBI and 41 strikeouts in 161 plate appearances at Beloit. He’s only 20, so he still has plenty of time to develop.

So what’s the minimum threshold to expect offensively at catcher?

“My No. 1 goal for them is to catch and follow the game plan,” manager Skip Schumaker said recently. “You want some offensive production. I don’t think Stallings is going to hit .100 the whole year; he ran into bad luck the first month with a lot of hard hit outs. Fortes is trending in the right direction.

“There’s a lot of new info with different hitting coaches coming in; there’s some changing of mechanics. We’ve put a lot on these guys. They’re all buying in. Both of them are going to hit more than what they have before.”

OUTFIELD SITUATION

Before acquiring 31-year-old journeyman Jonathan Davis from Detroit this week (for outfield prospect Brady Allen), the Marlins made calls to multiple teams, looking for a high-level defender in center field.

Davis quickly became an option, in part because the Tigers were disinclined to call up him from Triple A. And he’s off to an incredible start with Miami, going 6 for 7 with a triple and home run in his first three games, heading into Friday’s game at Anaheim.

The Marlins also like Davis’ baserunning and plate discipline.

But even if he plays well, the Marlins aren’t looking to give up on the idea of having Jazz Chisholm play center.

Chisholm said he is targeting a return in the second week in June, but the Marlins expect him to be out at least a couple of weeks beyond that.

The right-handed hitting Davis, over parts of six seasons, is a .200 hitter (.306 on base) in 359 plate appearances. But the Marlins see potential for more.

So for now, the Marlins will stick with Davis and to a lesser extent, Garrett Hampson in center, with Jon Berti and Xavier Edwards also able to play there.

▪ With lefty hitters with Chisholm and Jesus Sanchez sidelined, there are only two left-handed hitting starters (Luis Arraez and Wendle). That leaves the rookie switch-hitting Edwards as the only left-handed hitter on the bench some games.

Against right-handers, “you like Yuli [Gurriel’s] profile at times if you have guy on third on third, less than two outs, infield in,” Schumaker said. “You need a ball put in play. X could be maybe leadoff guy in the ninth. We are missing big left-handed bats. It’s tougher to match up when you have only one on the bench.”

So do the Marlins have enough without trading for a left-handed hitter? “We have plenty to win,” Schumaker said. “But guys have to step up. Guys not having the best month it’s time to turn the corner and step up.”

With Chisholm, Sanchez and Garcia all sidelined, the Marlins’ best lineup offensively would include Gurriel and Garrett Cooper splitting designated hitter and first base and Jorge Soler and Bryan De La Cruz playing most every day.

But Soler’s back issues prevents Schumaker from playing Soler, Gurriel and Cooper together as much as he would like.

That’s because Soler sometimes needs to be the designated hitter because his back “bothers him [in the outfield] when he’s on turf multiple games,” Schumaker said. “So you try to limit that as much as possible at home on the turf. You will see him on the road more [on natural grass]... We will try to be as creative as possible.”

Schumaker is disinclined to play De La Cruz in center, where he played 42 games last season.

▪ As for Edwards, he was an underrated piece of the JT Chargois trade with Tampa in November, a deal that sent Marcus Johnson and Santiago Suarez to the Rays. He has impressed in eight games with the Marlins, hitting .368 (7 for 19).

“He’s a hit collector, has an advanced approach,” Marlins director of minor-league operations Hector Crespo said “Can hammer singles, beat out infield singles. Old school player. Not much power, but sneaky power from the right-hand size. His best position is second base.”

Edwards had never played center field before this season. Crespo said he can play center because “he has unique athleticism.”

The Marlins specifically asked for Edwards in the Chargois trade. “He’s someone we had interest in, in the draft,” Crespo said. “He has always been a unique profile for us. It was intriguing once Tampa made him available.”

▪ Despite having three outfielders on the injured list, the Marlins so far have bypassed promoting Jake Mangum, a switch-hitter who’s hitting .310 (.344 on base) at Jacksonville, with a homer and 18 RBI in 37 games. Though he’s a career .289 hitter in four minor-league seasons, some inside the Marlins aren’t certain his success will necessarily translate to big-league pitching.

They want to see more from the Mets’ 2019 fourth-round pick; Mangum — who left Mississippi State with the fourth-most hits in NCAA history — was acquired by the Marlins as the player to be named later in the December trade that sent Elieser Hernandez and Jeff Brigham to the Mets.

SANDY HELPING EURY

▪ Eury Perez has been following around Sandy Alcantara, which Schumaker loves to see.

“Eury is a special person,” the manager said. “They’re two really good people. The big leagues are challenging. There are a lot of distractions for him because he’s our number one prospect. [Alcantara is] kind of calming him down, the emotion part of it.

“They played catch together [the other day]. They watch each others’ bullpen [sessions]. They’re going to be in the weight room together. You see them sitting down in games they’re not starting. As a coach, you love to see that type of bonding because you want to see him get to where Sandy is one day. He’s the type that can do it. Everybody wants to be like Sandy. He has a chance to be like Sandy.”

SEGURA DISAPPOINTED

Third baseman Jean Segura sat in front of his locker last week, as upset with himself as we can recall any Marlin in recent years.

“The team really needs me to get going,” he said. “That’s one of the big reasons they signed me: to produce. I really feel bad not producing the way they want me to produce. I’ve been hitting the ball super hard but it’s right at people - on the ground, line drives. I hope those balls start falling soon because I really need it.”

Segura is hitting .188 overall with a .253 on-base percentage and has just five RBI in 43 games. Most hitters acquired by the Marlins hit worse here than their previous teams. In his case, pitcher-friendly loanDepot park doesn’t seem to be the cause; he’s hitting .240 at home and .135 on the road.

“Every hitting coach wants their players to put the ball in the air because the ball could fall,” he said. “I want to hit the ball in the air. But you see people mention all the time the ball doesn’t really carry much here, only to the lines.”

Segura’s -1.6 wins over replacement is among the worst in baseball. He has grounded into 10 double plays, the most in baseball.

Herald senior baseball correspondent Craig Mish hosts Newswire from 11 a.m. to noon weekdays on Sportsgrid. Follow him on Twitter at @CraigMish. Follow Barry Jackson at @flasportsbuzz