Marlins add 3 to rotation
Pitchers now set for opening home stand
MIAMI — The Miami Marlins continued to play 25-man roster poker Tuesday, revealing more about their pitching plans, but with more cards still to play before Opening Day.
Starting pitchers for the four-game season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs were revealed with Jose Urena to be followed in order by Caleb Smith, Odrisamer Despaigne and Dillon Peters.
Michael Hill, president of baseball operations, also said that Braxton Lee will begin the season as a reserve outfielder and lefthander Jarlin Garcia will be on the team in a role not yet specified.
Several injuries have complicated the shaping of the roster. As expected, catcher J.T. Realmuto, pitcher Dan Straily, and infielders JT Riddle and Martin Prado were among seven players who will begin the season on the disabled list, Hill said.
The Marlins open the season at home Thursday with 14-game winner Urena facing the Cubs’ Jon Lester in a 12:40 p.m. start that will open the Major League Baseball season. They have until 11:30 that morning to set their roster, but Marlins manager Don Mattingly said all the pieces should be in place by the end of today’s workout at Marlins Park.
“I’m excited about our club in general,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, this was not the way he had planned on starting the season.
“None of the injuries seem to be [long term]. They’re all progressing in rehabs, so we feel like we’ll be not too far down the road before we’re what we thought we’d be.”
Smith, a left-hander acquired in an offseason trade with the Yankees, will make his Marlins debut Friday. He made two starts for New York in September following a standout season in Triple-A where he was 9-1 with a 2.39 ERA and 1.051 WHIP.
“He’s a powerful-body guy. We like his stuff,” Mattingly said. “We think he’s ready to pitch here. We think he’s got the mix [of pitches] to be successful.”
The Cuban-born Despaigne has been with the Marlins for parts of the past two seasons, as a reliever and a starter. He was 2-3 with a 4.06 ERA in eight starts in 2017.
Peters, another lefthander, was 1-2, 5.17 in six starts for the Marlins in September. He had some control issues early in camp and had been optioned to the minors, but has shown better command in recent outings.
Peters tossed 4 2 ⁄ 3 innings in Tuesday’s 22-2 rout of the University of Miami, striking out seven with one walk while allowing two runs and two hits.
“The fact that he’s throwing strikes, he’s getting his breaking ball over, we’re all encouraging,” Mattingly said.
Realmuto, out since March 11 with a bone bruise in his lower back, has yet to progress beyond throwing. He will start on the 10-day DL retroactive to Monday, but Hill made it clear that it will take time to get him ready for the rigors of catching nine innings.
“We’re going to give him every ounce of time that he needs so that when he comes back he can perform at the level that we all expect him to,” Hill said.
Straily had been scheduled to pitch the second game of the season that Smith will start, but the right-hander is recovering from forearm inflammation and won’t begin throwing until Friday.
Also going on the DL are pitchers Wei-Yin Chen, Elieser Hernandez and Brett Graves.
The catching situation is muddled by Realmuto’s absence. Tomas Telis, Chad Wallach and Bryan Holaday are still with the club, as is Yadiel Rivera, likely to begin in the utility infield role. Some of the remaining moves will require clearing space on the 40-man roster, which has only one opening.
Regardless of the rotation and overall roster that opens the season, this Marlins team is expected to undergo considerable turnover as the season progresses.
Fernandez’s locker
On Tuesday, shortstop Miguel Rojas occupied the locker at the end of the row in the Marlins’ clubhouse that belonged to pitcher Jose Fernandez, who died in a boating crash in September 2016.
Rojas said it was temporary and the plan is to keep the locker open during the season. All lockers were needed with 17 players from minor league camp in uniform for the exhibition against the Hurricanes.
Sculpture rests
The home run sculpture wasn’t activated after the two home runs the Marlins hit against the Hurricanes. It will be in use during the season.
Lewis Brinson led off the bottom of the first with a home run to left and Wallach hit a two-run shot onto the base of the structure in the third. Brinson hit a laser into the visitor’s bullpen off UM starter Christopher McMahon to spark a six-run first inning.