Take a look at Garrett Cooper’s outing for the Miami Marlins on Friday, and it might be hard to believe that, before spring training began, he had been off a baseball field for nearly eight months.
In that game on Friday, a 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals, Cooper was feet away from hitting a home run to center field in the second inning and followed it up with a single in the fifth inning.
His swing is steady. The power is coming back.
And Cooper is making his case to be in the Marlins’ starting lineup when the season begins on Feb.