JUPITER, Fla. -- In meetings before Spring Training started, Marlins personnel evaluators sat in with the coaching staff. When the name Chris Coghlan came up, the label "baseball player" was tossed around.

"Everybody said this guy is just a baseball player," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "That's a good label. He's one of those guys, he's going to hit."

A sandwich first-round Draft pick in 2006, Coghlan, an infielder, is a pure hitter in an organization that has some serious power-hitting infielders.

Some are projecting that he will someday replace All-Star Dan Uggla, a proven 30-homer talent, at second base. Others say Coghlan can play third base at the big league level.

Right now, Coghlan is in Marlins camp trying to gain more experience and exposure as he embarks on his fourth season of professional baseball.

At Double-A Carolina last year, he played second base and batted .298 with seven homers and 74 RBIs. A left-handed hitter, he scored 83 runs, swiped 34 bases, collected 32 doubles, five triples and had a .396 on-base percentage.

The numbers may not wow people, but those inside the game find players like Coghlan highly valuable and productive.

"He's not going to grade out on the top of the scales," Gonzalez said. "He's one of those guys who gets it done."

In terms of power, Coghlan isn't a prototypical third baseman. He's not going to produce the home run and RBI totals of say, Chipper Jones, David Wright or Jorge Cantu.

Yet, there are plenty of examples of third basemen who hit for average, got on base and scored runs. Former big leaguer Bill Mueller played 11 seasons and had a career batting average of .291 to go along with 85 homers.

Chone Figgins of the Angels is another third baseman whose game is to get on base and score runs, rather than drive home runs. And there is Hall of Famer Wade Boggs.

"That's something that always gets brought up -- the power," Coghlan said. "I feel like the older and stronger I get, I'll be able to hit more [homers]. I don't think power comes with changing your swing. I think it comes with your approach and what you can do in certain counts, with certain pitches."

A player like Coghlan, for example, may take a 2-0 pitch to the opposite field for a single, rather than use the hitters' count to look for a pitch to drive out of the ballpark.

"I've always been a gap-to-gap guy," he said. "That's what got me here. That's what I'm trying to be more consistent with. I'm going to try to get on base, hit .300 and score a lot of runs."

Coghlan is getting closer to being big league ready. He's getting a long look in Spring Training, but projects to open the season in the Minor Leagues.

If Coghlan keeps hitting the way he has, however, it would only be a matter of time before he gets his first chance in the Majors.

A franchise like the Marlins doesn't hesitate to promote their young talent. Raised near Tampa, Fla., Coghlan has followed how Florida operates for years.

"That's kind of how the Marlins work," he said. "Even when I was a kid watching them when they won it in '97, they've always been like this, developing talent. They're going to do the same thing that worked for them last year. They won a lot of ballgames. Hopefully, when my time comes and people from my class come up, hopefully, we'll be able to win the World Series together."