Oblique injury puts Burger on IL again; Cabrera returns after shoulder issue
The Marlins placed third baseman Jake Burger on the 10-day injured list ahead of their series opener against the San Francisco Giants on Monday with a left intercostal muscle strain.
Burger was replaced in the top of the fourth inning of the Marlins’ 9-7 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday due to the
Championship banners and expectations are raised to commensurate heights, and so it is a compliment to the Heat — to this franchise’s pedigree of accomplishment — to say this team enters the playoffs after an ordinary-to-disappointing regular season and without much hope of a deep run.
Hmm. Sounds familiar. We thought that and said it one year ago, when Miami also was relegated to a play-in tournament, the NBA’s version of you don’t quite belong but you can earn your way in. A month of miracles ensued as Miami took a machete to long odds and
For coverage of Monday’s Giants-Marlins game, go to
injury, which he initially felt on his first swing against right-hander Charlie Morton and then again while running down the line on his groundout in that first-inning at-bat.
He felt the discomfort again when he ranged to his right to field a grounder and attempt a crossbody throw to first base in slashed all the way to the Finals.
Do you believe in miracles ... again?
With no other team in this market is playoffs the starting point, the very bare minimum we expect.
This is the Heat’s 24th postseason in 36 years, a 66.7 percent ratio. Take away the first three expansion years and it’s 72.7 percent. Those 24 postseasons have produced seven NBA Finals appearances and championships in 2006, 2012 and 2013. (It has been a while, Heat. Tick-tock ...)
By comparison, the Dolphins’ playoffs percentage is 42.4 (25 of 59), the Panthers’ is 33.3 (10 of 30), and the Marlins’ is 12.5 (four of 32).
But this Heat team fashioned a middling 46-36 regular-season record largely owing to sporadic injuries to key players spawning inconsistency, and unusual mediocrity (22-19) on
the third inning.
This is the second consecutive season Burger has landed on the injured list with an oblique injury. He went on the IL on May 4 with the Chicago White Sox due to the injury.
Burger on Sunday said the injury last year and this one are “very similar.”
“It’s similar location, similar feeling,” Burger said. “That one was a pretty quick turnaround, so I’m hopeful that this will bring the same.”
Entering Monday’s game, Burger led the Marlins with 15 RBI, which was tied for the seventhmost in MLB.
He also was tied for the team lead in home runs (three) and was fourth in runs scored (nine). He was
the home court.
Now that is Jimmy Butler’s positive spin on Miami’s play-in opener Wednesday night being in Philadelphia.
“That’s a question that I don’t have the answer to. I wish we played better at home,” he said after Sunday’s home win over Toronto left the Heat the No. 8 seed in the East. “I don’t know. Whenever we get on the road, our back [is] against the wall a little bit. I guess we get out of our comfort zone, and then we really start making things happen. So I’m actually kind of glad we’re on the road.”
Unfortunately, this road finds the No. 7-seed 76ers on a scorching 8-0 run since Joel Embiid’s return from midseason left knee surgery. Averaging 34.7 points, Embiid likely would be collecting a second straight league MVP trophy if not for a total of 43 missed games.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra hoists the we-love-achallenge flag in embracing this trip. At this point, every facet of Heat Culture is being leaned on.
“We’re looking forward to it. It will be a great environment,” Spoelstra said. “Philly has been playing fantastic recently. So we know what to expect up there.
“That is what we say: It’s for competitors only. It should be a lot of fun. I feel good about the group. That’s all I wanted to see these last couple of games. I just wanted to feel it. I know my team, I know the locker room. I can sense that the group is ready. That’s all you can ask for.”
The path from here is brutal.
It was last year, when Miami survived the play-in round and then unexpectedly mowed through Milwaukee, New York and Boston before falling to Denver in the Finals.
The path is brutal again.
That’s what makes this Heat regular season so frustrating. In the tightly bunched East two games is the difference between play-in purgatory and fourth place — which would have meant home-court advantage in the first round.
Now, instead, this is Miami’s path:
If the Heat wins Wednesday: Miami would claim the No. 7 playoff seed and meet the No. 2 New York Knicks in the opening round.
If the Heat loses Wednesday: Miami would face a must-win home game Friday night vs. the Atlanta-Chicago winner for the No. 8 seed and the dubious right to meet mighty Boston in the first round.
Beating Philly on Wednesday — i.e., avoiding Boston in the first round — is itself a mammoth task.
“You don’t want to play Philadelphia,” as ESPN analyst Tim Legler says. “Obviously Jimmy Butler has a playoff track record, but Philly with Joel Embiid back is so unique. Miami has the track record of flipping the switch [in the postseason]. I don’t think that happens this year.”
Legler alluded to last year and “Playoff Jimmy.” Butler averaged 28.5 points in the first three rounds — including an insane 37.4 vs. the Bucks in the opening round.
But can he do it again? Miami will need him to. Butler is 34 now, and coming off a 20.8 scoring season that was his lowest in four years. Can he do it again?
In equal parts it is a lot to ask, and to expect.
“I feel like everybody is confident. Everybody is decently healthy for the most part,” says Butler. “We just got to go out there and hoop, man.”
What the Heat did from this spot last season won’t happen again. It can’t ... right?