Have the Miami Marlins stumbled upon their franchise shortstop?

The Miami Marlins have stumbled upon a delightful surprise at shortstop due to some injuries, but what does this mean for the Fish?

The Miami Marlins have endured injuries to three left side infielders in Martin Prado, Miguel Rojas, and Adeiny Hechavarria. Hech and Prado were the starting shortstop and third baseman, respectively.

Rojas was in the process of proving that he could also be a starting shortstop or third basemen too. Coming into the season, the bench consisted of two infielders.

Corner man Derek Dietrich who plays mostly third, and Miguel Rojas who is hurt. The Fish needed to call someone up, so they recalled J.T. Riddle for his second stint in the Majors.

In a previous article I wrote that Riddle struggled but looked tense in his first taste of Major League action. So far in his second stint, he’s showed an enormous amount of confidence and growth.

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Since being recalled, Riddle has hit for a .288 average and .333 since his 2-21 start. Riddle has also started to show considerable power lately, posting three home runs in only 74 at bats.

The most impressive part about Riddle has been his ability to spray the ball to all fields. Against lefties and righties, he is showing patience and poise.

Riddle has also shown potential gold glove ability only committing two errors in 83 chances. I don’t know about you Fish fans, but I’m in love with the potential he has shown on a consistent basis this past month.

What to do with Hech and Rojas?

Hechavarria unfortunately is going to be a part of the Miami Marlins business much longer. With the trade deadline approaching, after hearing his name for a couple years, he might finally get moved.

Not only will this be done for the Marlins to try and get someone in return, but it’ll also be made to keep Hech happy. There’s very little reason to believe Hech would be happy backing up Riddle. It’d be a win for both sides in this case. Rojas would return to his spot as the super-utility man.

However, if Rojas plays as well as he did before his injury, Prado might also be moved. The Marlins signed Prado to a three year deal last year, but haven’t seen much return thus far.

If Rojas can prove himself capable of playing every day, the Marlins might try to get Prado’s contract off the books with a trade.

Next: Jose Urena proving why ‘wins’ is a bad metric

These aren’t bad moves at all by the Marlins, having depth like this is great for them. An emergence of young guys can go a long, long ways in Major League Baseball.

The Miami Marlins have stumbled upon a delightful surprise at shortstop due to some injuries, but what does this mean for the Fish?

More from Marlin Maniac

What to do with Hech and Rojas?

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