The Marlins announced Thursday that left-hander Ryan Weathers will begin the season on the injured list due to a left forearm strain. He’s expected to be sidelined for at least the next four to six weeks, per Isaac Azout of Fish on First.
Weathers, 25, came to Miami in the 2023 Garrett Cooper trade with the Padres and quickly looked to be an outstanding low-cost pickup. The former first-rounder had run out of chances with the Friars and struggled in three appearances with the Fish in the second half of the 2023 season. However, he came roaring out of the gate in 2024, relying less on his four-seamer and leaning more heavily on his sinker, slider and changeup.
The results were excellent. Through his first 13 starts, Weathers notched a 3.55 ERA with an average 22.5% strikeout rate, a strong 6.5% walk rate and a terrific 51.5% ground-ball rate in 71 innings. Unfortunately, a strain in his pitching hand wound up sending him to the injured list for the next three months. Weathers was hit hard by the Dodgers in his return outing but wrapped up the season with a pair of one-run performances against the Twins and Blue Jays. Overall, he finished the year with a 3.63 earned run average, 21.8% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 46.6% grounder rate.
That strong performance locked Weathers in as a set member of the Marlins’ rotation. He’d likely have taken the ball in the season’s second or third game, but his debut will be pushed until at least late April, if not mid-to-late May — depending on how his rehab progresses. For the time being, it seems there’s no expectation of a truly long-term absence, though forearm injuries come with a broad range of outcomes.
With Weathers joining fellow starters Braxton Garrett (internal brace surgery), Eury Perez (April 2024 Tommy John surgery) and Edward Cabrera (blisters) on the injured list to begin the season, Miami’s rotation is far from full strength. Sandy Alcantara, Cal Quantrill and Max Meyer are assured spots. Connor Gillispie seemed to have a leg up on what was the fifth spot (now the fourth). Weathers’ injury now likely pushes Valente Bellozo or Adam Mazur back into the mix for a spot on the big league staff.
How many pitchers is that now? I’ve lost count.
Far too many…
Making the Dodgers’ pitchers look healthy by comparison . . .
What’s worse? The dreaded Forearm Strain? Or the dreaded Elbow Discomfort? The same? Or not? You tell me.
I’ve strained a forearm doing too many chin-ups and max out at lobbing 60 mph.
I’ve trashed my elbows and my forearms doing chin ups with my beers at the bars. Come to think of it didn’t do my liver a whole lot of good either.
Thats actually a good question. I would be curious to see which one led to more TJS.
His forearm strain could be a muscle strain, not ligament nor tendon strain. Not enough info we have.
And he seemed to be finally showing himself as a promising SP. he was brought up too young for an emergency start in playoffs by SD and they just never seemed to be on same waive length for development (not assigning blame). Hope he avoids the knife.
Psst, hey Miami, J Montgomery is available. 😉
Montgomery makes almost as much as the entire Marlins roster, Arizona would have to eat 99% of his salary just to get Bendix on the phone
Cmon Miami weathers Sanchez and Cabrera too for Christ sake.
This is literally the 3rd or so year in a row this has happened. I don’t buy it. It’s tough being a Marlins fan, but I’ll always be one lol. I’m really high on Weathers too. I mean if they’re shooting for the #1 overall pick we know how poor of luck they have (getting 7 for 2025 which I predicted). Nothing good happens to the Marlins even if they’re a terribly ran organization. Matt Mervis who I’m slightly excited about is 0-13 with 10K’s in the past 3 games by the way, so yeah, that excitement is over.
I’m just hoping Edwards and Norby become lethal at the top of the order.
You and me both
I”m also hopeful for Conine and Bride.
Sadly Stowers is swinging at too many pitches out of the strike zone.. 50% strikeout rate will not get you anywhere in baseball.
I want Otto to be hitting more. I love his defence and want to see him stay in the lineup
Agreed. Stowers is not good. The Marlins live high K hitters which I don’t get. It’s opposite land.
I feel like 20% of all mlb starting pitchers are on the DL.
Seems it’s a >50% chance that any SP will be out for a lengthy absence and surgery over the course of their first controllable years. I wonder what the approximate % is.
Arm troubles?! And just when his velocity was maxing out, too. What terrible luck.
Ryan Weathers being out for four to six weeks with a forearm strain sounds like bad luck for the Marlins, but it points to a bigger issue in baseball’s rules that hits teams like them harder than people realize. The Marlins already have a bunch of pitchers hurt—Weathers, Garrett, Perez, and Cabrera—so they’re stuck with a thin rotation and scrambling to fill spots with less-ready guys. The problem? Baseball’s injured list (IL) forces a player to sit out at least 15 days, even if they might heal a bit faster, like in 10 or 12 days. For a small-budget team like Miami, with not many backup options, this rule makes every injury a bigger headache because they have to call up replacements and juggle their limited roster spots for weeks.