The Marlins announced this morning that they’ve placed first baseman Justin Bour on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 3, with a sprained right ankle. In a corresponding move, the Fish have selected the contract of veteran utility man Don Kelly from Triple-A New Orleans and designated left-hander Eric Jokisch for assignment.
[Related: Updated Miami Marlins depth chart]
Bour, incredibly, becomes the first Miami position player to land on the disabled list this season, as the Herald’s Clark Spencer points out (Twitter link). His absence from the lineup will assuredly be felt by the Marlins. While not a household name, the 28-year-old Bour has established himself as an excellent platoon weapon at first base and is hitting .268/.347/.526 with 15 homers and 10 doubles on the season. Of his 242 plate appearances this season, 220 have come against right-handed pitching.
Kelly, 36, is in his second season with the Marlins organization but received just one plate appearance in the big leagues last season. He spent most of the year on the disabled list recovering first from a broken finger and then from Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. He’ll presumably pair up with Chris Johnson to form a platoon at first base through at least the All-Star break. Kelly, a fixture on the Tigers’ roster from 2009-14, has batted .223/.288/.273 in 48 games at Triple-A this year as he recovers from the aforementioned elbow operation. The versatile veteran has played at least 300 innings at all three outfield positions and each corner infield spot in parts of eight Major League seasons, during which he’s compiled a .232/.296/.335 batting line.
Jokisch, 26, was an April waiver claim by the Marlins and has turned in a 2.64 ERA across 30 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. However, he’s carrying a lackluster 19-to-14 K/BB ratio in that time, and left-handed opponents are batting .250/.366/.400 against him this season. He’s allowed more than a hit per inning in addition to his problematic control, leading FIP to forecast a more pessimistic 4.36 mark.
So the team nicknamed the Fish has Dietrich with Harris coaching at third. Now they need (Darwin) Barney and (Andrew) Miller.
Is this a fishing joke? I don’t get it…
gobraves46, Google the TV show Barney Miller and read the character’s names.
Also search “Barney Miller theme” on YouTube for one of the better television theme songs of all time.
Awesome!!!!!
The staying power of Don Kelly continues to amaze and baffle many of us. Good for Don, I root for all natives of Pittsburgh, he both grew up there and played college ball at Point Park.
Isn’t he Neil Walker’s cousin too?
Now, I think he is married to Walke’s sister, or it may be that Walker is married to Kelly’s sister.
Don Kelly once posted a .941 OPS in 400 PA after I claimed him off waivers in my OOTP game. I don’t care if it wasn’t real. That was impressive and I’ve liked him ever since.
To paraphrase the old AI movie tag line, “His love is real. But his .941 OPS is not.”