Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Bour, Riddle hit disabled list
Gordon is only healthy infield starter for Marlins
ARLINGTON, Texas — Most of the Miami Marlins’ infield is hurt again.
The club Tuesday put first baseman Justin Bour (right oblique strain) and shortstop JT Riddle (left biceps tendinitis) on the 10-day disabled list, where they join third baseman Martin Prado (right knee sprain). Second baseman Dee Gordon is the lone remaining first-stringer.
Utility infielder Mike Aviles and catcher/first baseman Tomas Telis were called up from Triple-A New Orleans to fill those roster spots and some of the playing time.
Avoiding the DL, at least for now, is utility infielder Miguel Rojas, who has been filling in for Riddle for going on a week but who also has a tender left shoulder.
Bour and Riddle headed back to Miami on Tuesday to see doctors.
Here’s how each of these developments affect the Marlins moving forward.
Bour out, Moore in
Bour suffered a right oblique strain on a swing in the first inning Monday. This is his second trip to the DL this season and third in about 13 months, after being sidelined by a left ankle bruise in June and a right ankle sprain last summer.
Manager Don Mattingly said the Marlins are “not necessarily” concerned about Bour’s ability to stay on the field over the long term.
“Obviously the foot area is something he probably ought to be concerned about,” Mattingly said. “But … there’s a lot of times guys for me seem to get hurt a lot and then all of a sudden they don’t.”
Mattingly wasn’t sure how long Bour would be out, but acknowledged that oblique injuries can be tricky.
“The average is about 28 days or something like that for a rib cage,” Mattingly said. “I think it would be more along those lines than 10 days.”
Expect Tyler More to see the bulk of time at first, with Telis and catcher J.T. Realmuto as backup options.
Bour has been having a breakout year, slashing .289/.366/.548 with 21 home runs and 63 RBI while proving he can hit left-handed pitchers and be a full-time first baseman.
Now, he has to hit pause again.
Riddle a mystery
The Marlins aren’t sure exactly what’s wrong with Riddle. He has had shoulder trouble for weeks, but it came to a head after he landed on it while diving last week, and it didn’t respond to rest and treatment as it had in the recent past.
“He’ll probably be getting an MRI so we’re going to find out what’s happening,” Mattingly said. “We’ll try to get this one diagnosed and see what’s truly causing that.”
Rojas, meanwhile, is in limbo. He jammed his shoulder Monday — on a dive at a ball up the middle, like Riddle — and was in clear pain but remained in the game.
If the Marlins had had another healthy infielder, Rojas said, he would have come out.
The plan is to see how Rojas feels over the next day or two.
“We know the situation of the team right now,” Rojas said. “We know we have to man up and be on the field as long as possible. We don’t have anybody else right now to play the position.”
Aviles started at shortstop Tuesday, but if and when Rojas returns, Aviles will be freed up to play wherever Mattingly wants to plug him in.
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