Marlins infielder Connor Norby underwent surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone in his left hand yesterday, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald. He’s expected to be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks.
Norby, 25, came to the Marlins alongside Kyle Stowers just under one year ago in the 2024 deadline trade sending lefty Trevor Rogers to Baltimore. He was placed on the 10-day IL a few days ago due to inflammation in his left wrist. The specific nature of Norby’s injury wasn’t clear at the time, but he’d been out of the lineup for the final two games prior to the All-Star break after experiencing discomfort in his hand/wrist at the plate last Friday.
A 2021 second-round pick and former top prospect, Norby had a solid debut for the Marlins following the trade last summer. He hit .247/.315/.445 with seven homers and three steals in 162 plate appearances down the stretch — albeit with a 32.1% strikeout rate. He’s pared back on the strikeouts a bit this year (26.7%) but had a tough season overall, slashing .241/.289/.364 in 273 trips to the plate. It’s not entirely clear how long Norby was playing through discomfort prior to his IL stint and subsequent surgery, but over his past 47 plate appearances he’s turned in an anemic .186/.234/.326 batting line, dragging his season-long numbers down quite a bit in the process.
Norby opened the 2025 season on the injured list due to an oblique strain but has been Miami’s primary third baseman when healthy. He’s played 68 games and logged 567 innings at the position, albeit with sub-par defensive grades (-7 Defensive Runs Saved, -3 Outs Above Average). He’s also capable of playing second base, but the Fish have been using Xavier Edwards there after installing Otto Lopez as their everyday shortstop.
With Norby out for the foreseeable future, their options at third base include Graham Pauley, Javier Sanoja and Eric Wagaman, though the latter of that trio has been playing first base regularly as of late. Sanoja and Pauley drew starts in Miami’s final two games before the break.
The Fish also have infielders Jack Winkler, Maximo Acosta and Deyvison De Los Santos on the 40-man roster with their Triple-A Jacksonville affiliate. Winkler is a utility player with good speed who made his MLB debut briefly earlier in the season. Acosta has been strictly a middle infielder. De Los Santos has played both corners but spent the vast majority of his recent time at first base. None of the three are hitting well in Jacksonville, however.
Pauley, also a 2024 deadline acquisition (part of the Tanner Scott return), hasn’t produced in 94 big league plate appearances this year but has considerably outperformed Winkler, De Los Santos and Acosta in Triple-A. He’s taken 144 plate appearances with Jacksonville and slashed .260/.340/.496 with a 9.7% walk rate and a tiny 11.1% strikeout rate.
Review his HBP incidents this season. Probably where it took place…
There sure are plenty of HBP in games each and every day.
AND MLB IS DOING NOTHING TO REDUCE THE OCCURANCES!!!
yes because the MLB can magically stop an accidental HBP right before it happens…. moron
Can we get somebody to turn off your internet privileges? That should be our main focus
There are steps that can be taken = MORON.
Let’s hear them! I am very excited to see what you think we can do
They can put a little piece of TNT in the ball. If they feel it will hit the batter they can make it explode. One small problem if the ball is hit close to the detonator it can blow up then too.
What if we just remote controlled all the baseballs? Yeah that sounds like a great idea!! – Jacksson13
Hamate bone injuries are pretty much exclusively from swinging the bat, not from getting hit.
The knob of the bat compresses the bottom of the hand during the swing and the hamate bone (which is at the bottom of the palm of the hand) can break during any random swing.
Yes, I remember when Stanton broke his hand swinging a bat. Not hitting. Swinging. We were aghast.
Occurrences?
Oh, and what would you suggest to reduce these occurrences?
Use a wiffleball?
Full gladiator attire?
Penalties for throwing inside pitches?
Penalties for throwing over 95 mph?
Do you want them to ban pitching inside all together? There’s not much MLB can do to prevent accidents from happening anymore than anyone else can. Perhaps steel plated batting gloves?
Shut up, Jacksson13.
No not Norby! Nooooooo!
His name sounds like a Pixar movie character. “Bring the whole family out to see Disney’s Norby, now in theaters everywhere.”
Kids should get the bone removed Sophomore year of HS. Then they will have no problem with the bone during their pro career. Seems easy to me.
Just so you know this sarcasm. It is meant to make you chuckle. Might not make you chuckle but maybe think.