Marlins Garrett Cooper goes on IL with calf strain

The Miami Marlins have announced that outfielder Garrett Cooper has been placed on the 10-day Injured List with a calf strain.

Marlins outfielder Garrett Cooper cannot seem to buy a break on the Major League level. The team announced on Sunday that Cooper has gone on the 10-day Injured List (it will take some time to get that right) with a calf-strain.

In a corresponding move, the team has announced it has purchased the contract of outfielder Peter O’Brien. Per Matt Kelly of MLB.com, “Cooper, 28, did not start the Marlins’ matchup against the Rockies on Saturday but did make a pinch-hit appearance. He is hitless in seven at-bats to begin the season.”

This is not the news the Marlins or Cooper wanted to hear given last season was virtually lost for the slugger. Cooper was hit on the wrist by a pitch from Kyle Hendricks in the second game of the 2018 season was lost for the majority of the season.

Cooper batted .395 in the spring and played his way onto the Marlins 25-man roster, which led to the team’s decision to send O’Brien to Triple-A New Orleans.

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As of now, the Marlins do not plan to move second-year starter Brian Anderson to right field, as the team did last season for part of his rookie year. There are other outfielders to choose from, including O’Brien, who could bring power to the middle of the Marlins lineup.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Cooper told Wells Dusenbury of sun-sentinel.com. A long year of rehab. To come back and get hurt again; it’s not what I want.”Cooper also told Dusenbury, “It will likely be a few weeks before he resumes baseball activities. He’ll have an MRI on the calf later on Sunday.”

That’s not a good sign for the outfielder, which means he is more like to spend more time out of the team’s lineup. It is believed the injury was first sustained on Friday evening against the Colorado Rockies when Cooper felt something, but thought it might have been only minor.

“I thought it was just a cramp a couple nights ago,” Cooper said. “It was just tight yesterday. After the pinch hit, I tried to run on it and it felt like it pulled.”

Cooper has been with the Marlins since November of 2017 when he was part of a trade with the New York Yankees that also brought Caleb Smith to the team in exchange for pitcher Mike King and international bonus pool money.