Pair of Marlins top prospects land on the disabled list
MIAMI — Two of the Marlins’ most prized winter acquisitions landed on the disabled list Wednesday morning ahead of Miami’s series finale against the Rays.
Right hip inflammation pushed center fielder Lewis Brinson to the DL, while a right axillary infection forced right-hander Sandy Alcantara out of action. Brinson was the top overall prospect acquired in the offseason (from Milwaukee in the Christian Yelich deal) while Alcantara is the club’s top pitching prospect (from St. Louis in the Marcell Ozuna deal).
To fill the vacant roster spots, the Marlins activated Jose Ureña from the 10-day disabled list and recalled left-hander Dillon Peters from Triple-A New Orleans.
Brinson said he’d been feeling the injury for the last week or so, but tried to play through it. Tuesday night’s 16-inning game served as a breaking point, though, and the team decided it would be best to silence the nagging injury with rest.
“I got tight hips,” Brinson said. “I call them fast guy problems. For the past couple years of my career, just on my feet, going to get balls in center field, it takes a toll on you. Just something I got to take care of.”
Brinson has struggled in his first full season in the major leagues, slashing .186/.232/.338 with nearly twice as many strikeouts (94) as hits (54). Among qualified major league hitters, Brinson’s .570 on-base-plus-slugging percentage is the thirdworst in baseball. Marlins manager Don Mattingly said the team was concerned about future leg injuries should Brinson change his running stride to account for the injured hip. For a player such as Brinson — a fast and athletic 24-year-old who has much of his value tied up in his defense — his legs will be a big part of his future.
“I kept noticing it, little gyrations in the box,” Mattingly said. “You could tell that hip was bothering him. And then the runs down the line, first couple steps are good and then you can tell he can’t really run. I think our biggest concern was change of gait, hamstrings, stuff like that. It just seemed like ‘Let’s get on top of this right now. Let’s get it knocked out so we can move forward.’”
Alcantara’s armpit infection will prevent him from throwing for four or five days, Mattingly said, and then the Marlins will build him back up to re-enter the rotation. If Alcantara follows a similar path to Ureña, he could return after a two-week absence.
He is eligible to return July 11, since the move was retroactive to July 1.
“It showed up the other day, it got worse and we knew we weren’t going to be able to pitch him,” Mattingly said.