Marlins prospect Jordan Yamamoto to start finale against the Cards

The Miami Marlins have purchased the contract of prospect Jordan Yamamoto to start the finale against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night. Yamamoto was in Jacksonville, the Marlins Double-A affiliate.

Last week, Miami Marlins pitching prospect Jordan Yamamoto and I were talking prior his latest start for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp about cutting my hair during an interview. This week, Yamamoto will make his Major League debut in the series finale for the Marlins against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yamamoto, the Marlins No. 17 minor league prospect, struck out nine batters in his last appearance for Jacksonville, Miami’s Double-A affiliate. His promotion to the Majors comes on the heels that the team announced starter Jose Urena would spend time on the I.L. with lower back tightness. Urena is the second starter in a week to find himself on the shelf. The Marlins placed Caleb Smith on the I.L. with inflammation in his hip, causing him to miss the start on Tuesday night against the Cardinals.

"“He’s been getting a little bit of treatment for it,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Urena’s injury. “So, it’s not something that wasn’t totally out of the blue. It’s not something we really thought was anything. Then after the ‘pen, when he comes in today, it was a different thing.”"

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Having two starters go down with such a young and inexperienced rotation is yet another issue the Marlins front office and coaching staff have to deal with. Elieser Hernandez stepped on the mound in his place in the 7-1 loss. He struck out seven batters on the night. Hernandez was charged with three runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Yamamoto becomes the second player the organization received in the Christian Yelich deal from the Milwaukee Brewers to wear a Marlins jersey. Lewis Brinson won the centerfield job in Spring Training last season and was Miami’s Opening Day starter in 2018 and 2019.

Brinson is now starting in Triple-A at New Orleans.

For now, the focus is on Yamamoto, the 6-foot, 180-pound right-hander who allows the coaching staff to see if the 23-year-old can make an impression on the future. The belief is Smith will miss one start and return, but that has not been confirmed yet. There is no word if Urena will need more time to heal.

"Per Joe Frisaro, “Urena was lined up and preparing to go in the series finale but experienced some discomfort after throwing his between-start bullpen session. His back was acting up on Tuesday, and the training staff informed Mattingly.”"

If Urena or Smith needs more time to concentrate on their injuries, will it mean the front office will finally bring New Orleans Baby Cakes ace Zac Gallen up for an introduction? Gallen was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for June 3-9. It was the third time he has been honored.

"Per the Baby Cakes website, “At 8-1 on the season, Gallen is tied for first in all of Minor League Baseball in terms of wins (8) and starts (13) and leads the minors in strikeouts (104), innings pitched (86.0), average against (.150) and WHIP (0.70). In addition, the University of North Carolina product leads the PCL in all previously mentioned categories, as well as leads the league in earned run average (1.50).”"