Captain Prado Expected Back Soon

The Miami Marlins may be getting their third baseman back, and not a moment too soon.

Miami Marlins will be welcoming third baseman, Martin Prado, back to the lineup soon. Prado is due to finally be coming off of the DL. I say finally as if it has been two months. But, it will be nice to have our unofficial team captain back.

Prado began his road back last night as he played in Jupiter with the Hammerheads. In his first appearance since being injured in the WBC for team Venezuela, Prado went 1-2 with a strikeout.

The rehab game was the first of what is expected to be four rehab assignments before Prado returns back to the Marlins.

Decisions to Make

With Prado expected to return back to the lineup this weekend, the Marlins will have some serious decisions to make regarding their lineup. With rookie call up, J.T. Riddle, and Tyler Moore showing a high level of production, it will not be an easy decision to make.

The Fish decided at the beginning of the season to run with a four-man bench. A decision at the time that was easy to make.

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With the expectation of Derek Dietrich, Miguel Rojas, Ichiro Suzuki, and veteran catcher A.J. Ellis. With Prado starting the season on the DL and Adeiny Hechavarria joining him, those roster spots were used for Moore and now Riddle.

Someone is going to have to be bumped, the question is who? Obvious answers would point to Riddle, who just recorded his first Major League hit last night. This would shift Rojas to short and likely place Dietrich on the bench.

Other Options

I personally have enjoyed watching Riddle play in the big leagues. While he does still have some refining to do, I think that he may be able to handle himself on this Marlins roster. This would also allow us to get a better look at Riddle on the big boy scale while Hechavarria is still out.

Moore has been batting well so far on the season and is another player that I would like to see Moore of. See what I did there? Slashing .375/.375/.500 so far this year, Moore has provided some help off the bench.

Lastly there is the option to remove someone from the bullpen. Jose Urena has only pitched one inning this year and would seem like a possible candidate. But wait, Urena is out of options and the Marlins would risk losing him on waivers.

There is also the possibility of sending Nick Wittgrin down, but let’s be realistic, that is a terrible idea. Not that losing either of these pitchers would matter as for some reason we keep entrusting Junichi Tazawa with the ball in tight spots. I wonder how long that will last.

Next: Miami Marlins: Gone But Not Forgotten

Regardless of who the Marlins choose, there will be some level of disappointment. You can catch your Fish playing the Mets tonight at 7:10 PM ET.