Feb 23, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Miami Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna (68) connects for a base hit against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. The Marlins defeated the Cardinals 8-3. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

The injury bug has bit the Miami Marlins again. Joe Mahoney missed Monday’s game against the New York Mets with a hamstring injury and was unavailable as a pinch hitter. Giancarlo Stanton went down with a hamstring injury hustling down the line trying to beat out a ground ball. Stanton immediately went down and grabbed below his buttocks.

The Marlins announced that Stanton has a strained hamstring and he should miss a couple of weeks. As a result of these injuries, the Marlins placed Stanton and Mahoney on the 15-day disabled list. The team called up prospects Marcell Ozuna and Brad Hand to take their roster spots.

#marlins.place giancarlo stanton and joe mahoney on Dl, call up ozuna and hand

— clarkspencer (@clarkspencer) April 30, 2013

Marcell Ozuna has been on fire since his return from the DL with a broken hand. Ozuna owns a .333/.383/.810 slash line for the Marlins Double-A affiliate, the Jacksonville Suns. Ozuna has five homers and a total of nine extra base hits early on. I ranked Ozuna as the Marlins 6th best prospect earlier this off-season and projected he would be ready by the 2014 season:

In 2012, in High-A, Ozuna posted a similar line of .266/.328/.476 with 24 home runs. He actually improved his strikeout rate a tad, moving it down to 21.5 percent. This all happened in the less hitter friendly parks of the Florida State League. Another positive step forward for Ozuna. Although his strikeout issues and poor plate recognition have yet to deeply affect him in the minors, he should face a major test next season as he moves up to Double-A. If he can continue to improve against more advanced pitching, the Marlins have a extremely promising prospects on their hands.

The Marlins promoting Ozuna seems to be an extremely aggressive move, as he has just the 57 at bats at Double-A. Ben Bradler noted that while Ozuna’s power is fun to watch, he may not be ready for the big leagues currently:

Wow. @jcrmarlinsbeat says the Marlins are calling up Marcell Ozuna. Not sure he’s ready but that power is fun to watch. — Ben Badler (@BenBadler) April 30, 2013

The Marlins also called up Triple-A pitcher Brad Hand. Hand has been successful early on in the season, posting a 2.45 ERA and a 3.25 FIP in 22 innings. Hand has continued to struggle with his commands, as he has walked 11 hitters in those 22 innings.

Hand has a career 4.95 ERA in the majors and has walked and struck out 41 hitters in 63 2/3 innings. Although he is the Marlins best option with Jacob Turner working out his kinks, he is not much more than a fringe player at this point.

Expectations for both these players should be low, as Hand is likely a career minor league pitcher and Ozuna may not be quite ready to handle major league pitching.

I would expect Hand to work out of the Marlins bullpen, as the team went through 11 innings of work from the bullpen in their 15 inning win over the Mets Monday.

The good news for Marlins fans, Adeiny Hechavarria is expected to back in the Marlins lineup on Thursday, when the Marlins travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies.

Rookie Jose Fernandez was penned in as the starting pitcher this morning after last night’s game was canceled due to snow. Fernandez maneuvered through 5.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and taking the loss.

Joe Mahoney managed two hits this afternoon, and was pinch hit for in the 9th.
Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Minnesota wasted no time to score, as Brian Dozier led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple to left-center field. Justin Mourneau grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Dozier. The score stayed at 0-1 until the fourth inning.

The Marlins took a 1-2 lead in the fourth inning after a Joe Mahoney single scored both Gregg Dobbs and Justin Ruggiano. Mahoney already had a hit to his name from the second inning and was the only Marlin in the lineup with multiple on-base appearances.

Twins starter Kevin Correia, who moved to 4-0 with today’s win, allowed only two runs on five hits in 7.0 innings of work. Correia, who was hardly ever threatened by the Marlins offense, also only required 87 pitches to get through those seven innings.

The Twins took back their lead in the bottom of the fourth, after Fernandez got into trouble early on two straight singles from Chris Parmelee and Trevor Plouffe. The next batter, Oswaldo Arcia mashed his first career home run into deep right-center field. Fernandez retired the next three batters, leaving the score at 2-4, Twins.

Miami managed one more run after Twins reliever Jared Burton hit two consecutive Marlin batters and Greg Dobbs grounded out. The groundout was an unfortunate break for Miami, as Burton just barely got his glove on the ball, leading to an unconventional 1-6-3 groundout instead of a 2-run single that ties the game. The score would stay at 3-4.

Ryan Webb finished the game for the Marlins in relief of Fernandez, allowing only one hit and one walk in his scoreless three innings of work. Twins closer Glen Perkins worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning, picking up his sixth save of the year.

Game two of the double-header begins at 8:10 p.m. ET with Miami’s Ricky Nolasco facing Minnesota’s Mike Pelfrey.

Mar 9, 2013; Melbourne, FL, USA; Miami Marlins first baseman Joe Mahoney (25) against the Washington Nationals during a spring training game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

After the Miami Marlins won their third game of the season, defeating the Washington Nationals 8-2, the Marlins made a roster move to accommodate one of their first baseman coming back from injury. Catcher Kyle Skipworth was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans and the team will reinstate Joe Mahoney off the disabled list tomorrow.

#Marlins move: Kyle Skipworth optioned to NOLA; Joe Mahoney to be reinstated from DL tomorrow

— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) April 17, 2013

Mahoney will likely step right into the starting first base role for the Miami Marlins. This will allow veteran Greg Dobbs to go back to his role as the Marlins primary pinch hitter. He had been in the competition with Casey Kotchman to be the Marlins starting first basemen until Logan Morrison returned, but an oblique injury knocked him out of the race.

Joe Mahoney is a former sixth-round draft pick out of the University of Richmond. Mahoney has recieved some love as a prospect in the past, being ranked as the tenth-best prospect on the Baltimore Orioles prior to 2012 by FanGraphs’s Marc Hulet. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus ranked Mahoney as the 13th best prospect in the O’s system just last season.

Mahoney has a big frame 6’7 and should provide an additional batter to provide some pop for the Marlins in their lineup, beyond Justin Ruggiano and Giancarlo Stanton.

Kyle Skipworth was brought up by the Marlins when Kotchman went down with a hamstring issue. The Marlins did not have an immediate first base option in their minor league system, so the team decided they would give catcher Miguel Olivo a crack at first. Hence, the team decided a third catcher would be necessary. Olivo never played at first for the team.

Sept 14, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jacob Turner (33) throws during the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Marlins Park. The Marlins won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

winning manager, Ozzie Guillen. With the team going through yet another rebuilding phase, they acquired multiple young players that could help the Marlins win some ball games this season. A few of these players included Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob Turner, and Jake Marisnick. I don’t see the Marlins being successful, but hopefully they can prove me wrong. Outside of Stanton and Nolasco, there isn’t much to be excited about; however, I am going to list the three players that I think will end up surprising fans by seasons end.

Number 3: Jacob Turner

Coming into the league, Turner achieved a high praise from multiple scouts and coaches. Drafted by the Detroit Tigers 9^th overall in the 2009 MLB Draft, Turner was expected to quickly develop into a middle of the rotation guy for Detroit. With Justin Verlander already being there, the Tigers were trying to develop one of the best pitching rotations in the American League. The Tigers decided to take their time and develop Turner in the minor leagues. During the 2010-2011’ season Turner made his debut for the Tigers after he was recalled to replace Charlie Furbush, who was traded to the Seattle Mariners. After his debut, Turner was temporarily sent back down, as he was brought back up to the main roster when the rosters expanded to 40 players. After starting last season in the minors, Turner was able to find his way back to the big leagues. Turner didn’t exactly fare well in his second outing with the Tigers on a big league level. After two starts, Turner had compiled an ERA of 8.03 after giving up 11 earned runs in a span of 12.1 innings. He was later traded to the Miami Marlins along with Rob Brantly and Brian Flynn in exchange for second-baseman Omar Infante and pitcher Anibal Sanchez. Turner was decent in a Marlins uniform last season. In his seven starts as a Marlin, Turner had a record of 1-4 with a 3.38 ERA and 29 strikeouts. Coming into this season I am confident that Turner can continue to develop into one of the top pitchers on the team. He was the Tigers number one rated prospect for a reason.

Sept 2, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins catcher Rob Brantly looks on from the dugout in a game against the New York Mets at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Number 2: Rob Brantly

Yes, another player from the trade with Detroit. When Brantly was drafted by the Tigers in the third round of the 2010 MLB Draft, Detroit knew they were going to be getting a good player. After a really good collegiate career at University of California Riverside, Brantly was set to take his talents to the next level. Despite being in the Tigers farm system, Brantly never got the call to be the Tigers catcher. Instead, he was traded in a move in order to help be more prepared for the playoffs, as the Tigers acquired Infante and Sanchez. As a Marlin, Brantly was very impressive. Finishing the 2011-2012’ season on the Marlins main roster, Brantly had a batting average of .290 with an on base percentage of .372. Coming into this season, the competition for the catcher’s job was wide open; however, catcher Jeff Mathis went down last weekend with a broken collarbone. Although you don’t want to see anyone injured, this could ultimately end up being a blessing in disguise as Brantly should get the majority of the playing time to start of the season. Hopefully Brantly could continue to play how he did last season with the Marlins. Catcher is easily one of the weakest spots on the roster, but Brantly could easily step in and fill that role with his above average potential.

Number 1: Joe Mahoney

When the Baltimore Orioles invested their sixth pick in the draft during the 2007 MLB Draft, they envisioned Mahoney to be their first baseman for the next decade. It didn’t take long for Mahoney to make an impact on Baltimore’s organization, as he went onto win the organization’s Brooks Robinson Minor League player of the year award. During the award winning season, Mahoney hit .307 with 18 homeruns and 78 RBI’s. Despite being one of the best players in their farm system, the Orioles decided to move in another direction, when they made the decision to designate Mahoney for assignment last November. It didn’t take long for Mahoney to find another team as the Marlins quickly claimed him off waivers. Mahoney is doing very well this Spring Training as well, hitting .375 with a double and an RBI. If Logan Morrison continues to struggle in the big leagues, I believe that this kid could end up taking LoMo’s spot. Mahoney is definitely someone Marlin fans should keep an eye on, as he could very well end up being our starting first baseman by the end of the year.

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