The Marlins introduced a pair of roster strikes as we speak as they positioned infielder Otto Lopez on the 10-day injured record on account of a Grade 2 sprain of his proper ankle. Changing Lopez on the lively roster is catcher Nick Fortes, who was activated from his personal stint on the shelf.
Lopez, 26, exited Miami’s sport on Friday on account of what was termed on the time proper ankle discomfort, was unavailable Saturday after present process an MRI that exposed the sprain as famous by Christina de Nicola of MLB.com. A selected timeline for Lopez’s return shouldn’t be but identified, although it’s value noting that de Nicola suggests a typical timetable for this kind of harm is within the three-to-six week vary. That would go away the membership with out Lopez at second till no less than the top of Could, making a void on the keystone.
After bouncing between the Blue Jays and Giants organizations earlier in his skilled profession, Lopez joined the Marlins final season and settled in because the membership’s on a regular basis second baseman. In 147 video games with Miami since he joined the group final yr, Lopez hasn’t hit a lot with a slash line of simply .262/.309/.367 throughout 553 plate appearances. With that being mentioned, he presents stable protection and the flexibility to play wherever on the infield if wanted and has additionally contributed on the basepaths with 23 steals in 28 makes an attempt.
General, Lopez is a reasonably common common which makes him a key piece for a Marlins crew that has gotten bottom-ten contributions from its lineup within the majors by measure of each wRC+ and fWAR. With out Lopez at second base on a regular basis, a gap alongside Connor Norby and Xavier Edwards opens within the membership’s infield combine. Javier Sanoja has hit .305/.333/.407 in a part-time position with the Fish this yr and figures to get the primary crack at taking part in time on the place, although infielder Graham Pauley can be on the roster as a possible possibility to combine in for begins on the keystone whereas Lopez is out of fee.
Changing Lopez on the roster is Fortes, who began the season in a tandem with Rule 5 draft addition Liam Hicks behind the plate however was sidelined early within the yr by an indirect pressure. Fortes was hitting .300/.333/.500 in seven video games on the time of his harm however is usually thought-about a glove-first catcher, providing robust worth defensively that’s considerably held again by his lackluster .216/.261/.309 slash line on the plate throughout 218 video games in 2022 and ’23. Nonetheless, rostering a top quality defender like Fortes makes loads of sense on condition that Hicks is usually thought-about a bat-first catcher and well-regarded prospect Agustin Ramirez faces questions concerning whether or not or not he can stick behind the plate in any respect long-term.
Whereas Fortes figures to rejoin Hicks as one of many membership’s major catchers going ahead, Ramirez has earned his roster spot thus far with a powerful .256/.293/.615 slash line in his first 41 plate appearances since making his large league debut final month. With eight extra-base hits in simply ten video games, Ramirez now seems more likely to be an occasional catcher for the Marlins however principally function the membership’s major DH. That might eat into the taking part in time afforded to Matt Mervis, who has performed in a primary base/DH position since beginning the season because the membership’s on a regular basis first baseman, as nicely was Eric Wagaman, who has spelled Mervis at first base every now and then whereas additionally being a part of the Miami outfield combine.
