Fish n’ grits: Miami Marlins morning news

There’s a lot going on in the world of Miami Marlins baseball right now. Oakland A’s series sweep, the MLB Draft, injury news, and a look ahead. It’s Fish n’ grits!

It’s been a good work week for the Miami Marlins. On Monday they made solid, justifiable, and exciting selections in the draft. They defeated the Athletics at home on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Now they’re looking ahead at another off day before heading to Atlanta for an important three-game series. They’re holding the breath about a key injury to their top prospect Braxton Garrett. There should be clarity on his future before too long.

After all hope seemed lost, the Fish continue to give fans reason to believe. It’s your morning Miami Marlins news. Enjoy it over a cup of coffee, or tea, or Florida orange juice.

Miami Marlins finish sweep of A’s

It was only a two-game series. The A’s were a struggling ball club and the Marlins had been playing better lately. Anything other than two consecutive wins would have been a disappointment.

With consecutive victories, the Marlins have pulled to within six games of the even mark. What was most impressive was the way Miami won these games. They were team efforts. They picked each other up, and multiple players split the load in a pair of convincing wins.

On Tuesday, Jose Urena turned in his best performance since making his debut against the Mets. In six innings, Urena allowed only one run on three hits. He posted a game score of 65 and earned a win on his record for his efforts.

On Wednesday, the Marlins had to battle back from a 4-0 deficit. Edinson Volquez wasn’t on his game. He lasted only four innings, and was tagged for four runs while throwing 92 pitches. He left the game trailing 5-4, but the Marlins ended up winning 11-5.

With the two-game sweep, the Marlins won the season series against he A’s, 3-1.

2017 MLB Draft is in the books

The Major League Draft is an event prospects look forward to all year. For those who had their named called, it’s the realization of a life-long dream. For the team front office, it’s months of work crammed into a three-day event.

The 40 round draft ended Wednesday afternoon. The Marlins put together a solid draft class and will now go about trying to sign as many of their selections as possible. They shouldn’t have too much trouble in that department. They only drafted four high school prospects in all 40 rounds.

One of them was their first overall pick, Trevor Rogers. The power pitching lefty was on hand to shake hands with Rob Manfred at the time of his selection. He’s a lock to sign with the Marlins and won’t be going to college instead.

It will be interesting to see what this does to the Miami Marlins farm system ranking. They have one of the worst farm systems according to nearly every source. Rogers likely becomes the top prospect in the system after news that Braxton Garrett might be needing Tommy John surgery.

Braxton Garrett update

The left-hander might be needing Tommy John surgery. That would mean the top two pitchers in the Marlins minor league system would have had the surgery before logging any significant professional experience.

It isn’t a done deal with Garrett yet. According to the Sun Sentinel, he is scheduled to meet with Dr. James Andrews to discuss his options and get a second opinion.

If he ends up needing the surgery, it delays his arrival significantly. By about 15 months. That would mean his estimated arrival time in the Major Leagues would be 2020 or 2021. Tyler Kolek and Trevor Rogers might be ready around that time as well.

What a season that would be.

Looking ahead at the Atlanta Braves

The Miami Marlins need to get wins while they are there to be had. The Braves series is an absolute must win for them. Winning two games and taking the series would be good. But after dropping two to the Cubs, and splitting a four game series with the Pirates, they need a sweep.

The Fish will face the Cubs and Nationals before closing out the month of June. Both those teams are deep, talented, and present a challenge every night.

Dan Straily, Jeff Locke, and possibly Justin Nicolino will get the starts for the Fish. It would be Nicolino’s first return since bruising his finger trying to lay down a bunt. He made a rehab appearance with the Jupiter Hammerheads on Tuesday and pitched well.

Next: List of the Miami Marlins draft selections

The Fish are hot after having taken both games from the A’s at home. They put together a solid MLB draft that can help pad the farm system. With Braxton Garrett possibly needing Tommy John surgery, they’ll need all the help they can get.

After a day off on Thursday, the Fish will be back at it on Friday in Atlanta against the Braves.