Marlins place Jon Berti on IL, recall Austin Dean

The Miami Marlins have placed centerfielder Jon Berti on IL with an oblique strain. In a corresponding move, the team recalled Austin Dean from Triple-A New Orleans.

Now that the Miami Marlins have announced that centerfielder Jon Berti has been placed on the 10-Day IL with a left oblique strain, is this the opportunity for outfielder Austin Dean to stick on the Major League roster.

The team announced it had purchased the contract of the outfielder in a corresponding move on Tuesday.

“The injury sidetracked a homecoming of sorts for Berti. But in terms of the bigger picture, the club is hopeful that he will not have a prolonged stay on the IL,” Joe Frisaro of MLB.com wrote.

Berti is from Troy, MI. The Marlins will play tonight in the second of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers. Miami led 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth only to lose the lead and win the game 5-4 in 11 innings.

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According to the team, this is the kind of injury that will be monitored. The 10 days Berti is on the shelf may turn out to be longer than expected.

“When you’re in that area, you really can’t do anything for a while,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “I think it’s somewhat extended. Hopefully, it’s not the other end of it, where it was all blown up.”

Berti has helped provide a spark on offense for the team in center field since he has been on the Marlins Major League roster. He has appeared in 22 games, batted .237 with two home runs and four RBI. He was in a platoon with Rosell Herrera.

“Exactly when Berti aggravated the oblique is unclear. On Saturday night, in a 2-0 win over the Mets at Marlins Park, the 29-year-old was shaken up after crashing into the center-field wall while trying to make a catch,” Frisaro explained. “But Mattingly said Berti appeared to aggravate the oblique while swinging the bat in the cages.”

Now enter Dean, who has been on the Marlins roster already once this season, but were sent back to New Orleans, the organization’s Triple-A affiliate. Since the decision to send him back to the minors, Dean has been an offensive juggernaut.

“Dean has become one of the toughest players to read in the system. At the plate, the 25-year-old has dominated at Triple-A, hitting .365 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs,” writes Frisaro.“But his corner outfield defense was questionable during his early-season call-up. His defensive runs saved is minus-five, and he hit .227 with a home run and six RBIs, but also a 39.1 strikeout percentage. Dean has been playing some first base at New Orleans as well.”

The flexibility Dean has shown is something the Marlins coaching staff and the front office had looked for as it assembled the 25-man roster at the beginning of the season. He will bat leadoff and play left field tonight.

If Dean can prove to be just as proficient at the plate for the parent club, it may mean he remains in South Florida. It also means the team may have a tough decision to make to the roster once Berti returns to the team from his injury.