May 3, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Miami Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano (17) celebrates hitting a home run with third base coach Joe Espada during the fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The injuries are the only thing that is adding up faster than the losses for the Miami Marlins in 2013. The team took another hit yesterday when second baseman Donovan Solano was placed on the disabled list with discomfort in his left side. Solano was a late scratch from the lineup Saturday night against the Philadelphia Phillies and has not played in the Marlins three games since. Solano was replaced Chris Valaika at second base.

Utility infielder Nick Green had his contract selected from Triple-A New Orleans, and he will join the team on Tuesday.  Nick was just designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A New Orleans to make room for the return of Adeiny Hechavarria from the disabled list. Henderson Alvarez could be moved to the 60-day DL to accommodate Green.

Neither Valaika (.280 wOBA) or Solano (.287 wOBA) have been playing well offensively this season. The Marlins hope that Green can continue to build on his early success (354 wOBA). Green’s numbers came in limited action, so it is doubtful he can keep those numbers up. A small improvement would still be huge for the Marlins lineup.

There is no early indication on how long Solano will be out, or the severity of his injury.

LoMo Returning to Game Action:

Still recovering from off-season knee surgery, Logan Morrison is expected back in game action later today. The Marlins will have Morrison playing in extended spring training games.

Morrison is eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day DL on May 30th, but the team and Morrison feel mid-June is a better target date to expect to see LoMo back in action with the Fish.

Morrison has not played in a major league game since last July and did not have a spring training this season, so the team does not feel the need to rush him along.

Other Injury Updates:

Giancarlo Stanton is still resting his hamstring and has not resumed any baseball activities. The Marlins are not expected to make much noise this season, so there is no real need to rush Stanton. He is still on track for a mid to late June return. Like I mentioned yesterday, Stanton should expect to return to a much improved lineup when he is healthy.

Henderson Alvarez played catch on Monday and did not feel any discomfort. Alvarez has been on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation since the eve of the season. Alvarez recently felt discomfort and was setback from an impending return. A realistic target date for Alvarez would be mid-June as well.

Nathan Eovaldi out with shoulder inflammation as well is throwing off of the mound. He is eligible to return at the end of May and is closer than Alvarez. He would likely take Alex Sanabia‘s spot in the rotation upon return.

Lastly, Jeff Mathis is close to making his debut with the Marlins Mathis broke right collarbone in the first game of Spring Training for the Marlins will play one more rehab game in Single-A before being moved up to Double-A. Mathis is elgible to come off of the 60-day DL on May 31st as well.

Apr 7, 2013; Flushing, NY,USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez (16) pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

At the beginning of each week and month, the MLB usually names a player from each league to be the player of the week or month. Although this is not a huge honor, like winning the season MVP, players do get excited to receive these type of awards.

I thought it would be a fun idea to do a player of the week from our Marlin Maniac site each week. I will give you guys a group of candidates each week, along with their statistics from the week. After I present all the numbers to you guys, I will have a poll for you  to vote for player of the week. We will leave the poll open until Thursday night and the player of the week will be named Friday morning.

We will do this every week for the season and tally at the end of the season which player wins the most Marlin Maniac Player of the Week awards. It’s going to be a fun exercise and although the Marlins are in for a rough season, it will be a way to celebrate the #minorvictories, the hash-tag Fishstripes has been promoting, for the team.

Here is a look at the candidates for the first Marlin Maniac Player of the week award:

Of all the players, Solano has the weakest line, as his lack of power drags down his line, especially the slugging percentage. He has been the best Marlin in terms of getting on base though.

Here is a look at the candidates for the Marlins pitcher of the week:

I believe that Jose Fernandez‘s start was the most impressive of the three, in what was his MLB debut. He was overpowering hitters with his fastball all day long. LeBlanc had a start that the advanced statistics loved, as evidenced by his excellent FIP. Nolasco out pitched his peripherals, quite the opposite of what he has done since his breakout 2008 campaign.

All the numbers are out there, now is your chance to vote on the Marlins player of the week. Will you go with one of the Marlins hot hitters: Greg Dobbs, Rob Brantly, Justin Ruggiano, or Donovan Solano? Or will you go with one of the three Marlins pitchers: Ricky Nolasco, Wade LeBlanc, or the kid?

As always, if you feel there is another deserving candidate I missed, feel free to vote “other” and write in your vote for that player. We at Marlin Maniac believe in the democratic process. Every vote counts here!

The Miami Marlins face just this dilemma with a couple of their most promising young players who have had very different springs. Jacob Turner came into Spring Training expecting to be solidly entrenched in the middle of the Marlins rotation.  A disastrous spring may have cost Turner what appeared to be a guaranteed rotation spot according to Adam Berry at MLB.com.  The decision is expected to be announced as soon as Monday.

Mar 19, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jacob Turner (33) throws in the first inning during a spring training game against St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Christian Yelich came into camp under a different set of assumptions.  He is considered the Marlins top hitting prospect, but due to his youth and inexperience there were no expectations that he would be under even the slightest consideration for making the opening day roster.  His play during Spring Training games quickly changed that as he proved to be the best player in camp.  The decision in the end was to send him down to the minors for now to get more seasoning and the guys over at Fish Stripes believe this to be the right decision.

The Marlins are a team in transition and that means we should expect to see new faces coming through constantly as the front office works to find the best talent for the future.  Joe Frisaro at the Fish Pond believes that the last two or three players to make the opening day roster are not even with the team yet.

One such player is Wilson Valdez, who was signed just last week after being released by he San Francisco Giants.  Joe Cappozi of the Palm Beach Post has Mike Redmond’s take on the signing.

Injuries also play a role on who makes the final roster and with Donovan Solano suddenly battling back trouble another unexpected roster spot may be opening up.  Adam Berry has the latest on the injury from Redmond and what it could mean if he is not ready for Opening Day.

It appears the Marlins roster will be a fluid situation all the way until the first pitch is thrown on Opening Day, but what do you think has been the biggest surprise in camp so far?

Mar 9, 2013; Melbourne, FL, USA; Miami Marlins second baseman Chone Figgins (1) against the Washington Nationals during a spring training game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Another round of cuts and disappointments took place this week, highlighted by the Marlins cutting longshot utility guy Chone Figgins. Teams will surely kick the tires on a guy who used to be able to hit Major League pitching and is willing to play six positions, but these Marlins telling you to take a seat, is not a promising sign.

Following Figgins’ cut, the competition for a seat on the Marlins bench became a little more clear for utility men Nick Green, Chris Valaika, and Matt Downs.

Figgins’ release seems to bode well for our old friend Nick Green as backup to Hechevarria. #fish

Filed under disappointing is the rough spring for Jacob Turner. The 21-year old has been competing for a rotation spot, and his outing Tuesday was to be an opportunity to earn it. He was knocked around for seven hits and four earned runs. Turner is competing for the fifth starting spot in the Marlins rotation along with Kevin Slowey and John Maine. Turner starts Sunday against the Astros.

With opening day now in single digits away from us, there’s been some coverage on the Marlins still sitting due to injury.Some note an injury to Logan Morrison still hurts the Marlin’s lineup, while a back strain for Donovan Solano also made headlines during the slow spring.

The 2013 Marlins are taking shape and it’s becoming more apparent who will be sitting and who will be playing. There are two more cuts to make on the 40-man, and three pitchers competing for the fifth spot. After those seats are settled, the Marlins, and the rest of the league take the field.

The Bad

We lost plain and simple. There was no challenge to the Astros at any moment in the game. The closes we came was in the the 3rd when we scored four runs to make it 7-4. That is as close as it got. The Astros went on to score a run in the 4th and 6th to make the final 9-4. Any time we lose it is just bad.

The Ugly

Boy there was alot of Ugly! Let’s start with Ricky Nolasco. Ricky gave up back-to-back home runs to Carlos Pena and Brett Wallace in the first inning. Then gave up a 2 run homer to… Matt Dominguez. Name sound familiar? Well it should because he was part of the trade last year that brought Carlos Lee to Miami. In the 3rd he gave up his 4th Home Run of the game to Jason Castro. Finally getting out of this inning with a performance that doesn’t not make many people feel easy about opening day… gaving up seven runs, eight hits, four homers in three innings while walked two and striking out four. In total the Marlins pitching gave up 5 Home Runs and 9 runs in 9 innings.

Mar 12, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco (47) throws a pitch to Houston Astros left fielder J.D. Martinez (14) during a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Good

We did have some good at bats. Kevin Kouzmanoff had a 2 run Homer in the 3rd. Finishing the day 2-4 with a Homer, double and 2 RBI. Donovan Solano went 2-3 with a double a RBI and a run. Gorkys Hernandez finished the game 2-3 with a run.

Here is the real good. It is just a Spring Training game. Spring Training is a time were players work to get back into season form. IS this going to happen in the season. Probably  There are 162 games in a season all 30 teams will have at least one game like this. This game is not an out look to what the Marlins season is going to be like. I like Spring Training game (if I didn’t I wouldn’t drive 2 1/2 once a week to catch a game.) I go to Spring Training to watch baseball and have a good time. If the Marlins lose they lose. I’ll start to worry about winning and losing when the season starts. Enjoy the rest of Spring Training!

Up Next: The Miami Marlins face off against the Atlanta Braves tonight. Nathan Eovaldi will go up against Kris Medlin. The game time is at 7:05 PM EST on Fox Sports Florida.