Anderson busts out of slump with three hits
HOUSTON
Marlins bench coach James Rowson had a good feeling Brian Anderson’s
mini-slump was nearing an end. Anderson went 0 for 9 with four strikeouts in the Marlins’ wild-card series with the Chicago Cubs.
They couldn’t afford for that type of performance to linger from one of their more consistent bats in the lineup.
So even in their 9-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves to begin a best-of-5 National League Division Series matchup at Minute Maid Park, the Marlins found solace in Anderson’s production at the plate. He went 3 for 4, drove in a run as part of a three-run third inning and scored on an eighth-inning pinch-hit single from Matt Joyce.
“Good to get him going,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
Anderson, one of five players on the Marlins’ active roster all season, hit .255 with team-best marks in home runs (11) and RBI (38) while finishing second in runs scored (27).
NO MARTE
The Marlins will be without outfielder Starling Marte for the entire NLDS while he continues to deal with his left-hand injury.
Marte, acquired at the trade deadline from the Arizona Diamondbacks, left in the ninth inning of the Marlins’ 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday to open the wild-card series when he was hit in the left hand by by a 92.2mph sinker from Cubs reliever Dan Winkler.
The official diagnosis was a small nondisplaced fracture in the fifth metacarpal of his left hand, which is the base of the bone between the pinkie and the wrist. He continues to wear a protective brace on the hand.
“Obviously a guy you don’t want to leave off your roster,” Mattingly said, “but we weren’t comfortable with what he was going to be able to do.”
Magneuris Sierra, who slapped an RBI single to right field in Miami’s seriesclinching 2-0 win over the Cubs on Friday, started in center field on Tuesday. Sierra had two hits and scored in the third inning on Garrett Cooper’s tworun double.
NOT READY YET
The Marlins didn’t feel it was time yet for pitching prospect Edward Cabrera to make his major-league debut.
Cabrera, the Marlins’ No. 5 overall prospect per Baseball America, was not added to the team’s roster for the Division Series but remains on the team’s taxi squad.
Cabrera, another hardthrowing right-hander capable of touching 100 mph, dealt with a right-arm issue toward the end of summer camp and pitched at the alternate training site during the season.
Cabrera recorded 116 strikeouts and 31 walks in 962⁄3 combined innings (19 starts) at Advanced A Jupiter and Double A Jacksonville in 2019.
“He’s a guy that’s been throwing innings and getting ready but still hasn’t pitched in any form of a game this year,” Mattingly said. “We’ll continue to build him up and have him on the taxi squad to throw some sim games, but we just felt like he wasn’t ready for this round.”
The Marlins added Daniel Castano (1-2, 3.03 ERA) giving them two lefty rookies as bullpen options along with Braxton Garrett (1-1, 5.87 ERA in first two major-league starts).
But they chose to add right-handed veteran Nick Vincent (4.43 ERA in 221⁄3 innings) due to the Braves’ right-handed heavy lineup.
One more NLDS roster note: Utility player Sean Rodriguez replaced first baseman Lewin Diaz, with Mattingly citing Rodriguez’s versatility as a main reason for the move.
THIS AND THAT
Outfielder Lewis Brinson, a Fort Lauderdale native and avid South Florida sports fan, continued to wear a Jimmy Butler Miami Heat jersey during batting practice.