The Marlins announced today that right-hander Edward Cabrera has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder impingement. Left-hander Braxton Garrett was reinstated from the IL in a corresponding move.
Though the Marlins once had a rotation surplus, they have been struggling to keep their starting staff together this year. Pablo López and prospect Jake Eder were each traded last year. Sandy Alcántara required Tommy John surgery at the end of last season and Eury Pérez required the same procedure early in the 2024 campaign. Garrett has also been on the IL all season due to a shoulder impingement. A.J. Puk and Jesús Luzardo have also gone on the injured list recently, due to shoulder fatigue and elbow tightness, respectively. The club is planning to move Puk back to the bullpen once he’s healthy.
Max Meyer made three good starts for the club earlier in the year but was optioned to the minors as the Marlins look to monitor his workload. He missed all of 2023 due to his own Tommy John surgery and will be facing limitations this year. His three big league starts went five, six and six innings but his Triple-A starts have been three, four and three. Roddery Muñoz had a couple of decent starts at the big league level but allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Dodgers on Monday before getting optioned.
Manager Skip Schumaker recently said that Garrett and Luzardo were likely to return to pitch May 11 and 12, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Those two give the club four healthy starters for now, alongside Ryan Weathers and Trevor Rogers. The club has an off-day tomorrow but will need a fifth starter by Tuesday of next week with Cabrera no longer available.
Sixto Sánchez could perhaps be an option, since he has started his last three outings, getting up to four innings pitched in the last two. George Soriano is also on the roster and capable of pitching multiple innings, logging three frames his last time out. Yonny Chirinos, Kyle Tyler and Kent Emanuel are throwing multiple innings in Triple-A, though none of that trio is currently on the 40-man roster. Since Muñoz was just optioned, he can’t be recalled for 15 days unless it’s for someone else going on the IL.
As an organization, the Marlins are clearly more focused on the future than on the present. They spent their offseason doing little to upgrade the roster, seemingly devoting more resources to their scouting and player development. Their slow start has spurred them to get a jump start on a midseason selloff, as they have already flipped Luis Arráez to the Padres for prospects.
It seems fair to expect any other player on the roster could be attainable this summer as well. Now that Garrett is healthy, he could be on the table if he’s in good form in the coming months. He tossed 247 2/3 innings over 2022 and 2023 with a 3.63 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate and 5.1% walk rate. He’ll reach arbitration this winter and can be retained for four more seasons.
Cabrera would also be a trade candidate if he can get back on the mound in the coming months. He has a 4.32 ERA in his career with strong strikeout and ground ball rates of 26.8% and 49.4% respectively, though his 14% walk rate shows a problematic lack of command. Like Garrett, he’s on track for Super Two status this winter with four additional seasons of club control.
Glad the Bucs kept the spot for Bailey Falter and Marco Gonzalez and didn’t trade for Cabrera. Weird thing to say.
Agreed. Never thought I’d say this but seems like the Marlins group of arms have factory defects. You can never rely on starting pitching to hold up, no matter how much you have.
At this rate, I’ll be pitching for the Marlins.
And then get traded soon after.
Or injured.
@Big Smoke
Do you really want to pitch for the Marlins?
If you’re a starter, you’ll go on the IL.
If you’re a reliever, you’ll suck.
Seems like a no-win situation to me.
Marlins and astros can’t keep pitchers healthy.
Rich Hill should be available soon.
Technically he’s available now… maybe a phone call sooner rather than later might be more prudent.
Always mystifies me how one player who is playing terribly suddenly gets injured while another guy is suddenly healthy
This has happened to it seems like nearly every pitcher who didn’t end up with surgery. I still don’t get it. You can never tell which came first.
It’s pretty obvious that Cabrera isn’t a starter. This is 4th shoulder impingement in two years, he has serious control problems as well. Think his future in the bullpen personally. At last though if the marlins stay true to form they keep starting him till he’s released for nothing and become an all Star closer somewhere. Miller Hand come to mind
At some point it would seem to be fair to say that the Marlins are going to have to take a long look at there entire development program in regards to pitching… Don’t get me wrong injuries are a part of the game and never more so then today but this seems to be an issue program wide affecting nearly every relevant arm in the system. I think at this point there isn’t one significant arm on the major league unit that hasn’t gone on the shelf with a significant injury over the past three years.
@kdog4187
Exactly so. I’m in complete agreement. But in addition, why can’t the Marlins evaluate, draft and develop any decent position players?
Doesn’t seem to be a problem for Baltimore. Or Tampa Bay. They (and other organizations) are loaded. We’ve got nothing. I’m cutting Bendix some slack for now. But to me it’s obvious that the utter failure of the Jeter/Denbo/Ng regime to upgrade our minor league system is the root cause of the troubles we face today – as we stare ahead toward another rebuild.
Exactly, sumthin is askew in the way they develop Ps. Yes, injuries are part of game but Marlins seem to lead league in this category. Alota their Ps show promise but they can’t keep em on field.