Shifting positions, Connor Norby embraces first base, showcasing surprising comfort and improving his defensive game for the Marlins.
MIAMI — When Christopher Morel eventually returns from injury and makes his long-awaited debut with the Miami Marlins, it is likely he will take over at first base, thus moving Connor Norby back to third.
Norby has been a jack of all trades ever since he turned pro. He was considered one of the premier second-base prospects in the Baltimore Orioles organization but also played numerous games in the outfield.
The Marlins acquired the 25-year-old along with Kyle Stowers in a trade for Trevor Rogers in 2024 and were immediately shifted to third base, a transition he said in an interview with MarlinsRoundtable was “not easy.”
“Learning going from second to third was extremely difficult,” Norby said. “I felt like I made a lot of good strides compared to the first month, six weeks that I had over there at the end of 2024.”
Norby posted a .924 fielding percentage during 30 games at third base in 2024 and improved to .954 through 82 games last year. He said he “worked really hard at third this spring,” knowing that he is competing for a full-time spot with a recipient of a Gold Glove as a utility fielder. He welcomed adding first base to his list of positions because the true goal is to “be in the lineup every day and putting up consistent at-bats and having my bat in the lineup.”
“I feel pretty good over there,” Norby said. “I almost treat it pretty much like second base. I just have to cover the base, and I think that's really helped me a lot. Obviously, we have a really good second baseman, so that helps me even more. He covers a lot of ground, and the transition has been, honestly, not as bad, not as tough as I thought it would be.”
While it’s taking a while for the bat to pop yet, Norby has a good process at the plate, and it’s resulting in a .341 on-base percentage, which puts him in the top 40 among National League batters.
“You've got to remind yourself that you continue to do that over the stretch of the season, good things are gonna happen,” Norby said. “They’re gonna even out.”
At a new position, 2026 has shaped up to be Norby’s best with a glove, turning in a .985 fielding percentage with two errors in 18 games at first base. It’s the first year that he has a positive run value (1). Norby said it’s about “being comfortable with your feet around the base,” and “knowing how our guys throw.”
“That's more so the thing that I'm working through the most and getting as comfortable as I can,” Norby said. “But overall, I feel great,”
The Marlins have benefited from a home-heavy first month of the season. With 10 wins against a mix of playoff teams and cellar dwellers, the Marlins are tied for the second-most home wins in baseball.
“I think we're a severely underrated team,” Norby said. “We're led by our pitching, obviously, but we have a lineup that is tough as nails to go through night in and night out. We may not hit three on homer every night, but we're gonna score runs. We put up tough at-bats. We make pitches work. We're not easy to get out, and that's our [Fightin’ Fish] motto.”
Despite being one game under .500, the Marlins (12-13) enter their California road trip in second place in the National League East divisional standings. The Marlins take on the San Francisco Giants on Friday with ace Sandy Alcantara on the mound.
“We have confidence in our group that we can do it. We can beat anybody. We can also lose to anybody. This game of baseball's law of averages,” Norby said. “We know if we put our best foot forward, we play Marlins baseball, we're going to have good things in front of us.”
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