Not off DL, but Tayron Guerrero back in Miami
As the Miami Marlins prepared for Colombian Heritage Night on Friday, their one Colombian player, reliever Tayron Guerrero, was present in the clubhouse. He was standing by his locker, posing for cameras in a Colombian Marlins shirt that was unveiled Friday night.
Guerrero’s presence was a surprise as he has been on the disabled list since July 5 with a back injury. According to manager Don Mattingly, he will remain there for now, though his reinstatement may be coming soon. The right-hander is fresh off completing rehab assignments in the minors this past week, including back-to-back relief appearances with Triple-A Jacksonville on Tuesday and Wednesday.
As far as Guerrero is concerned, everything went well.
“The first couple days, it doesn’t feel good and then right after that it starts to feel good, feel good, and that’s why I throw those back-to-back games,” Guerrero said.
Before going down with the injury, the 27-year-old fireballer had been pretty good. His ERA was a bit inflated, at 4.28 — mainly due to his 5.4 walks per nine innings — but his strikeout rate was high, at 12.2.
Right now, though, the concern isn’t necessarily with how Guerrero is pitching, it’s about getting him healthy and back to the big league roster.
Mattingly says that means Guerrero will throw a bullpen session tomorrow, and the team will re-evaluate from there.
“Tayron threw the ball well,” Mattingly said. “He’s throwing strikes. It’s just a matter of whether he can get back into a major league bullpen where you don’t get that rest all the time, you need to go back-to-back, you need to be able to be ready a lot. So, we’ll make sure he’s totally healthy before we get him back out there.”
As would be expected, Guerrero is chomping at the bit to get back.
While he was away, he said he was watching every Marlins game, which has helped motivate him.
“I focus on myself to get ready to get back to help the team, but at the same time watch every game on my iPad and see what the team’s doing,” Guerrero said. “I want to help the team. I want to get back 100 percent to help the team.”
Mattingly wouldn’t divulge when Guerrero would be activated other than mentioning his bullpen session on Saturday. But from all accounts, Guerrero’s rehab has gone without a hitch so far. He says his velocity and command have been good.
Luckily for him, the timing was pretty good. He’s back to celebrate his home country in his home ballpark.