Zac Gallen

The Marlins are reportedly planning to promote righty Zac Gallen for his first MLB start. Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM confirms some quality Reddit sleuthing (Twitter links). He’ll take the ball tomorrow in place of Pablo Lopez, who is headed to the injured list.

Gallen has been among the most intriguing hurlers in the minors thus far in 2019. He’s now through 91 1/3 innings of 1.77 ERA ball over 14 starts, with an impressive tally of 112 strikeouts against just 17 walks. While he has certainly shown legitimate potential at times in the past, that’s a new level of productivity for the 23-year-old.

Things are certainly headed in an interesting direction for a player who arrived in Miami without a ton of fanfare. He was a notable, but not overly hyped piece of the swap that sent outfielder Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals. Gallen came over with Sandy Alcantara, whom he’ll now join on the Marlins staff.

As exciting as it is to get a look at Gallen at the MLB level, it’s unfortunate that his ascent comes with uncertainty for Lopez. Mish says (Twitter link) that shoulder concerns appear to have spurred the IL placement. There’s no indication at this point whether it’s a serious malady; it seems that’s just what is being assessed at the moment.