Miami Marlins Option Peter O’Brien to New Orleans Baby Cakes

With two games remaining in 2019 Spring Training, the Miami Marlins have optioned Peter O’Brien to the New Orleans Baby Cakes.

The move was unexpected, as most had figured that Garrett Cooper would start the 2019 Miami Marlins campaign at triple-A. However, Cooper has hit .421/.465/.526 over 43 Spring Training plate appearances, with six RBI and six strikeouts.

Cooper had missed most of the 2018 season due to a pair of injuries that limited him to just 14 appearances. He hit .212 in the small sample size. In 2017, he had hit .326 in a similar sample with the New York Yankees.

Peter O’Brien‘s travels and tribulations have been well documented. Last season, he hit a total of 34 home runs between the major and minor leagues. That includes an organizational best 27 while at various levels of the Miami Marlins system. He hit four in 22 games for the Marlins.

This spring, however, O’Brien was nine-for-41 with seven walks, a team-leading 11 RBI, and a team-leading (?) 19 strikeouts in 51 plate appearances. The move to triple-A, while unexpected, shouldn’t really be surprising.

The move substantially increases the chances of the multi-positional Cooper to start on Opening Day, either at first base, in left field, or in right field. This move comes on the heels of the Marlins cutting ties with eight minor league players, including Luis Pintor, Sharif Othman, Sam Perez, Zech Lemond, Brandon Miller, Scott Sebald, Michael Mertz, and Matt Brooks. More details on that here.

With this move, the Miami Marlins seemingly now have nine in camp who will likely break camp with the parent club. Brian Anderson, Starlin Castro, Martin Prado, JT Riddle, Miguel Rojas, Neil Walker, Lewis Brinson, Cooper, and Curtis Granderson.

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Rosell Herrera is also on the 40-man roster, but his spot isn’t 100 percent clinched. He still needs to contend with the possibility of Isaac Galloway, Yadiel Rivera, Pedro Alvarez, Deven Marrero, Dixon Machado, Gabriel Guerrero, and Harold Ramirez being added to the camp-breaking version of the Marlins.

Whatever the case, the Miami Marlins Opening Day roster has come more starkly into focus. Tune in for the first pitch of today’s game, against the Houston Astros at 7:05 P.M. EST. José Ureña will make his final tune-up start for Opening Day on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies.

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