Miami Marlins Option Bryan Petersen, Dan Jennings, activate Austin Kearns

I do not know what it is, but every time the Miami Marlins square off with the Atlanta Braves, it seems like the Marlins completely forget how to play baseball. After getting swept and outscored 20-3 in the three game series, the Marlins decided to make a couple of roster moves.

The Marlins decided to option outfielder Bryan Petersen and lefty reliever Dan Jennings. The Marlins will reinstate Austin Kearns from the disabled list and are likely to bring up another reliever. Juan C. Rodriguez suggested that lefty Michael Dunn will be the pitcher called up.

Though, Marlins.com beat writer, Joe Frisaro, suggested that Sandy Rosario will be the pitcher that the Marlins call up.

The Marlins are clearly making the right move by bringing Austin Kearns back. Kearns was surprisingly one of the Marlins best hitters before he went down with his injury. Kearns posted a 375/.444/.646 (.470 wOBA)  line before going on the DL. I expect Kearns to get a majority of the time in left field until Gaby Sanchez is recalled.

But the Marlins did seem to make a mistake, as Michael Jong points out, with the player they decided to send down. Here is a quick comparison that Michael did between Chris Coghlan and Bryan Petersen:

Petersen has completely outplayed Coghlan this season, but if you felt like Coghlan has recently outplayed Petersen, the numbers suggest otherwise:

Petersen has been a much better player this season, just at the plate then Coghlan. There is no denying that. Then when you factor in the fact that Petersen is a plus defender in all three outfield positions, while Coghlan is an average defender in the corners, but a below average center fielder.

So why did the Marlins demote Petersen over Coghlan? The Marlins badly want Coghlan to return to his Rookie of the Year form. At this point, Coghlan re-reaching that level seems like a very long shot. The Marlins are mistaken if they truly believe that Coghlan can provide more value off of the bench then Petersen.

Here at Marlin Maniac, we wish BP the best of luck and hope he can make a quick return to the major leagues. Hopefully his Los Angeles Kings can win the Stanley Cup later tonight to make it up to him.

On another note, I have received a lot of questions about long until Gaby Sanchez will return to the Marlins. I have no idea right now, I expected him to be back already, but that’s partly because I expected him to start mashing the ball once he got to Triple-A. Sanchez is slumping down there right now. Sanchez owns a .275/.464/.412 line in the minors right now, but is not playing well as of late. Sanchez entered the game on a 6-for-28 skid. I still expect the Marlins to give Sanchez another shot in the big leagues, but I am also wondering what exactly the Marlins want from him.