Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Third base situation a mixed bag for Marlins with Prado’s injury.
Prado out with knee injury, Rojas is backup
As Derek Dietrich, the Miami Marlins’ once-again starting third baseman, and Miguel Rojas, his backup, took turns fieldling grounders at their shared position Tuesday afternoon, Martin Prado was nowhere to be seen, getting an MRI on his sprained right knee.
The Marlins don’t know yet how long Prado will be out, but he hit the 10-day disabled list for a third time this season after getting hurt fielding a ground ball Monday. The other two trips were for a strained right hamstring.
Manager Don Mattingly anointed Dietrich the primary third baseman, with Rojas — back from the DL on Tuesday after May surgery on his fractured right thumb — returning to his role as the utility infielder.
“That’s what I see right now,” Mattingly said of Rojas. “You can picture him in almost every game because of the way he plays defense.”
Added the manager, of Prado: “There’s nothing discouraging, but nothing necessarily saying this is just a bump in the road, he’ll be back in 10 days, either.”
In 10 rehab games with Double-A Jacksonville and High-A Jupiter, Rojas hit .273 with a .368 OBP and .333 slugging percentage, doubling twice and walking three times while striking out twice.
He also played all four infield positions in multiple games, a degree of flexibility that ups Mattingly’s options in terms of double switches and getting his four starting infielders, all of whom hit left-handed, a day off.
Shortstop JT Riddle in particular could use periodic rest. He has started every game since May 13 — a stretch of 58 in a row. In recent weeks, the Marlins hadn’t even carried a backup shortstop.
Dietrich will get another chance at regular at-bats in a season that has been a step backward offensively from 2016. He was slashing .241/.321/.382 through Tuesday.
Mattingly suggested Dietrich has had trouble sticking to his plate approach.
“Sometimes it’s the personality of a guy, too, that’s always wanting to get better and is tinkering a lot,” Mattingly said. “I call it tinkering a lot because if you look at it, you wouldn’t see a whole lot of difference. But we see differences in movement and things he’s working on, on a daily basis.
“Derek is a little more tinkering with what he wants to do. I think that’s where you get in trouble at this level.”
Meanwhile, last week the Marlins promoted third baseman Brian Anderson, their top position-player prospect and their top healthy prospect, to Triple-A New Orleans, where he is off to a solid start: 4 for 9 with a homer and three RBI in three games.
Anderson, 24 years old and ranked as the Marlins’ No. 3 minor leaguer by MLB Pipeline, hit .251 with a .341 OBP and .450 slugging percentage with Jacksonville. That was bolstered by a .290/.384/.532 slash line and seven homers in his final three dozen games.
Anderson’s 15 home runs across the two levels are a career high.
It’s feasible Anderson sees the majors this year, particularly if the Marlins are able to trade Prado, as they are said to be interested in doing.
Odds & ends
Catcher J.T. Realmuto is the Marlins’ recipient of the 2017 Heart & Hustle Award. The honor, created by the MLB Players Alumni Association, is voted on by current and former big leaguers, with one winner on each team who demonstrates a passion for the game and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game. …
The Marlins optioned reliever Drew Steckenrider to Triple A to make room for left-hander Adam Conley, who started Tuesday’s game.