But the social divides that form in the clubhouse between English- and Spanish-speaking players bugged Jeter, he said. So did knowing that his Spanish-speaking teammates struggled to order food in English or were criticized for their responses in interviews in their second language.

So when Jeter, 44, took over the Marlins, he and Emily Glass, 25, who oversees the team’s education efforts, made it a goal to address this weakness. He called for an overhaul of the club’s player development program, including a focus on life skills — from cooking to financial planning to language classes.

Teaching Spanish was also a part of a larger effort to help the Marlins better communicate with fans in Miami — which has the highest percentage of Spanish speakers of any major metropolitan area in the United States — and repair the team’s fractured relationship with the community after years of losing, mismanagement and dwindling attendance. The Marlins are in the early stages of a rocky, franchisewide rebuilding project, and the team has lost 27 of its first 37 games after an abysmal 98-loss season in 2018.

The Marlins tailored the Spanish classes for different groups’ needs: Coaches, for instance, wanted to learn everyday baseball lingo (“recta” means “fastball” and “sencillo” means “single”) more than grammar. The analytics staffers wanted their relevant vocabulary (“contrato” means “contract” and “agente libre” means “free agent”) plus more formal language instruction. Classes are offered at nearly every level of the organization but are mandatory only for Marlins players in the lowest levels of the minor leagues.

Small changes are starting to appear. Marlins closer Sergio Romo, a Mexican-American from the border town Brawley, Calif., said hearing front-office employees speak even a little Spanish to the team made several Latino players feel as if they were “being shown a little bit more respect and are more accepted.”

“It’s uplifting,” said Romo, 36, who has often been the go-between for English- and Spanish-speaking teammates throughout his career. “It’s a great idea. They’re asking all parties to be the bridge, to help build the bridge, to help maintain a bridge.”