Marlins To Place A.J. Ramos On DL

The Marlins will place closer A.J. Ramos on the 15-day DL, Andy Slater of 940-AM WINZ tweets. Slater adds that the team will send lefty Hunter Cervenka, who it recently acquired from the Braves, to the minors. Corresponding moves have yet to be announced, although the Marlins used eight relievers (including Cervenka and starter Andrew Cashner) in a 14-inning loss to the Giants yesterday, so bullpen reinforcements would appear to be in order.

There’s no specific word on the reason for Ramos’ DL placement, although he recently has been unavailable due to a jammed finger. It’s unclear how long he’ll be out, but if the finger turns out to be the only problem, the Marlins’ initial reluctance to place him on the DL might suggest they believe the injury won’t turn out to be serious. Fernando Rodney collected a save this weekend in Ramos’ absence and appears likely to continue to close until Ramos returns.

The 29-year-old Ramos has had a solid second season as the Marlins’ closer, collecting 32 saves while posting a 3.05 ERA and compensating for a high 5.3 BB/9 with an excellent 11.4 K/9. He’s now pitched parts of five seasons with the Marlins, with a career 2.69 ERA, 10.6 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9.