Miami Marlins: Injury Bug Bites the Fish to Start 2017

Injuries occur on every team. The Miami Marlins are no exception. Adeiny Hechavarria has been placed on the 10-day DL.

According to Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald, Adeiny Hechavarria will be making a trip to the DL to start the season for the Miami Marlins. Late in Saturday’s game, “Hech” was seen holding his side after running to first.

Before Sunday’s game it was confirmed that there was in fact an oblique injury. For Sunday, Miguel Rojas was placed in the starting lineup at short stop in place of Hechavarria.

Manager Don Mattingly in an article by Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel stated:

“These things traditionally aren’t a day. They’re usually a couple of weeks. … We’ll see.”

Hechavarria on the young season has batted .200/.238/.200 for the Fish. Career, Hechavarria has not fared well with the bat, hitting a career .254/.291/.335. Hechavarria is more so known for his glovework, however.

That glovework will be missed in the middle infield, although, Rojas did display a glove of his own during Sunday night’s 5 – 2 loss to the Mets.

Welcome to the Show

With Hechavarria going to the DL, that opens the door for the Marlins’ number 12 prospect according to mlb.com. J.T. Riddle will be breaking into the Major Leagues for the first time in his five-year career.

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The 13^th round pick for the Marlins in the 2013 first year player draft out of Kentucky may see his first action in the home opener against the Braves. While Riddle has played bits and pieces of three seasons in AAA, he has spent the majority of his time in AA.

While in the Marlins’ system Riddle has slashed his way to a career .276/.319/.370 line. Riddle’s numbers, in limited play, in AAA this season have been impressive. Equally impressive was the showing that Riddle had during Spring Training where he batted .269/.345/.462.

Clearly there is no rush to bring Hechavarria back and risk further injury. In the meantime, I would expect to see continued play by the red-hot Rojas with some appearances by the rookie Riddle. Hechavarria will be joining the team’s unofficial captain, Martin Prado, on the DL to start the season.

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With the injury bug in full effect, you can’t help but wonder, how many more Marlins will we lose moving forward with the 2017 campaign.