Figuring Out Graham Pauley Marlins Position Fit Going into 2026 Season
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Sometimes, the lineup answers are simple. Sometimes they’re more complicated.
On spec, Graham Pauley, who was a rookie in 2025, is a third baseman. But, since he’s been a pro, he’s been asked to do other things, in addition to being a third baseman. Does it serve him best? Does it serve the Marlins best? That’s what Miami must figure out before the start of the 2026 season.
There’s no easy answer.
Graham Pauley’s 2026 Marlins Role
In 75 MLB games he’s slashed .207/.284/.358 with six home runs and 11 RBI. To this point he’s largely been a back-up, but most of that time has been spent at third base. He’s played 58 games there. He’s also played at first base, second base and center field. He has an overall fielding percentage of .984 and a .979 fielding percentage at third base.
The Marlins are already toying with the idea of cross-training Connor Norby at first base. Norby was the starting third baseman in 2025 and while his slash proved solid — .251/.300/.389 with eight home runs and 34 RBI — the glove was not. He played 82 games at third base and had a .954 fielding percentage. That won’t cut it, and that could be why the Marlins are considering the move. Miami needs his bat in the lineup as he has projectable 20 home run power. He plays a premium power position. The Marlins need him somewhere.
Moving Norby to compete with Eric Wagaman, last year’s first baseman, opens an easy path for Pauley. He is a better defender but has a lighter bat, at least at this point in his Major League career. The Marlins have one of the best defensive middle infields with Xavier Edwards at second base and Otto Lopez at shortstop. The hot corner can’t be a black hole. Pauley would patch it.
What if Norby’s third base defense improves precipitously in the offseason? That might allow the Marlins to keep him at third base and allow Pauley to compete with Wagaman at first base. It is a foreign position to Pauley. He only has five Major League games there. But he doesn’t have an error. Spring training would give him a chance to push for the job.
What if Wagaman fends him off or someone else wins the job? Then Pauley must prove he can be a more productive utility player. That means he must show he can toggle between positions, perhaps every day, and his bat won’t suffer. That’s not easy. But, for now, Pauley’s fit is dependent upon other players and not on him, making him a fringe possibility to start every day in 2026.
He landed with the Padres after he was their 13th round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. In four minor league seasons, including with the Marlins, he slashed .271/.366/.477 with 49 home runs and 202 RBI.
Pauley grew up in Milton, Ga., played his prep ball at Milton High School and turned that into a career at Duke. He was good enough to play summer baseball with two different teams in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
While at Duke, he played two seasons with the Blue Devils, mostly at third base, where in his junior season in 2022 he slashed .292/.402/.495 with 62 hits and 32 walks. He had 16 doubles and 33 RBI with nine home runs. He had the eighth-lowest strikeout rate in the ACC that season.
