MIAMI -- Of all the Marlins making their Major League debuts this season, second baseman Dan Uggla appeared among the most suspect. Uggla certainly showed promise as an offensive player, but there appeared to be a major question about his defense. How could the Marlins trust someone at a key defensive position who had made 70 errors in his last three seasons in the Minors, including 25 last season?

The answer, it has turned out, is that the Marlins trusted infield coach Perry Hill to do a major defensive makeover on Uggla. And he has.

 

The new and improved Uggla has made just three errors at second base in 215 chances entering Tuesday night's game between the Marlins and Cubs at Dolphin Stadium.

 

"He worked with me every day in Spring Training," Uggla said. "Every aspect of defense, not just ground balls. Where to play certain hitters, how to do rundowns, how to cover bunt plays. Anything defense-wise.

 

"He is the reason I'm where I'm at right now."

 

Hill basically rebuilt Uggla as a defensive player. He changed his fielding position, his footwork, his angle in preparing to field a ball. And they talked about the mental side of the game; being prepared for every situation.

 

"Dan has a tremendous work ethic," Hill said. "And he is able to process what you want and repeat it quickly. A lot of things in Spring Training were new to him, but he figured it out quickly. He made himself a better defensive player."

 

Uggla put his trust in Hill. It's sometimes not easy for a player to trust his professional future to a coach, especially when they'd never met before Spring Training. But Uggla thought it was well worth any gamble on his part.

 

"It's pretty easy to make that commitment when you know you're going to work with someone who's the best in the business," Uggla said.

 

Consequently, the Marlins can now justify plugging in a No. 2 hitter who's rapidly proving he can be a special Major League hitter. Entering Tuesday night's game, Uggla was hitting .310 with 29 runs scored, six home runs and 22 RBIs.

 

Most strikingly, his confidence in his defense has never been higher. "I can't wait for the ball to be hit to me," he said Tuesday.

 

Willis to be well-rested: The Marlins have decided to pitch Dontrelle Willis on five days of rest instead of his usual four.

 

With the club having a day off on Thursday, manager Joe Girardi found a way to give Willis a bonus of sorts -- extra rest. He could have chosen to use him Friday against the Mets. Instead he will go Saturday against the same club.

 

"Has it crossed my mind?" Girardi said of the idea of pitching Willis on Friday on normal rest. "Sure it has. But he's worked pretty hard in his last two starts. So I'm inclined to give him that extra day, and then everyone gets an extra day."

 

Willis, an atypical 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA, has pitched well in his last two starts. After being pummeled by the Braves -- 10 hits and seven runs in 2 2/3 innings -- he came back to hold the Braves to six hits and two runs in nine innings. Then in his last outing, he limited the Devil Rays to eight hits and two runs in eight innings.

 

Willis doesn't seem to care when he pitches. That's the main reason he didn't try to persuade Girardi either way.

 

"The opposing team doesn't care if you're pitching on three days' rest or five or seven," he said. "They're just trying to hit you. If they don't care how many days rest I pitch on, why should I care? My job is to get them out, no matter how much rest I have when I go out there."

 

Willis acknowledged that there have been occasions this season, as the Marlins struggled to get some traction with a mostly-inexperienced club, when he felt he had to assure victory all by himself.

 

"If anything is wrong [with the Marlins], it's sometimes we try too hard," he said. "I know myself, I've gone into games trying to do too much. You can't really play that way."

 

Bullpen help coming: Right-hander Carlos Martinez, who showed promise before he was put on the disabled list on April 17 with a right elbow sprain, could return within two weeks. Fellow right-hander Franklyn German, out with shoulder tendinitis, is working on a more accelerated timetable and is at Class A in Jupiter, Fla., to pitch Wednesday.

 

Martinez, 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA in six games before he was hurt, threw 20 pitches of batting practice on Monday. Girardi said Martinez will pitch more batting practice later in the week, and then likely go on a rehab assignment next week. There are those who feel Martinez could emerge as a closer candidate at some point. He has nine strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

 

German, who threw 21 pitches of batting practice before Tuesday night's game, has no record and a 3.00 ERA in 12 games. His most glaring negative: he has walked 14 batters in 12 innings.

 

Girardi said the Marlins are working with him on developing a slider and on keeping the ball down in the strike zone.

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perry hill is amazing, just look at the defensive players he's had from lowell to luis to gonzo to uggla

While Uggla seems like the last guy to be patting himself on the back some of the credit has to go to the kid himself for the hard work he's put in and his ability to put his ego aside, and listen and learn from Perry Hill.

 

This winter when I went back and read most of his game notes in Southern League and what opposing managers had to say about him, it really became clear that this kid was going leave nothing at home in his attempt to break into the bigs and stick.

 

Whether he has a long career or not remains to be seen but one thing people will never call him is underachiever.

There should be an award for best coach (not head coach but other part bullpen, etc..)

 

He would win it hands down.