Did Jordan Yamamoto secure his spot in the Marlins rotation?

After another scoreless outing and two straight wins, did Marlins rookie Jordan Yamamoto do enough to secure a spot in the rotation?

The biggest loser in the Miami Marlins 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals may have been AAA phenom, Zach Gallen.

After watching Jordan Yamamoto mow down Cardinals hitters for the second time in less than a week, the notion of potentially bringing Gallen, who has owned batters this season for the New Orleans Baby Cakes, to the Major League roster has become less of a need. Now that the former Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp starter looks to be entrenched in the Marlins rotation. Prior to the game, there were questions about which pitcher, Yamamoto or Elieser Hernandez would stay in Miami.

Per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, “According to Baseball-Reference.com, Yamamoto is the first pitcher since at least 1908 to begin his career with consecutive outings of seven-plus innings pitched, no runs and three or fewer hits.More from Marlins NewsMiami Marlins news: Another target goneWhy didn’t the Miami Marlins sign JDM?Miami Marlins rejected Boston‘s trade offerMiami Marlins are pursuing Michael ConfortoMiami Marlins need to spend to win“Yamamoto’s 14 consecutive scoreless innings are also a record for a Marlins starter to open his career. Josh Beckett held the previous record of 10 innings in 2001.”

He was on point. He was “electric” as Marlin Maniac writer Kevin Kraczkowski wrote.

The 23-year-old made the decision a little easier. Yamamoto allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out seven batters. Was the second time in as many games that he had gone seven scoreless innings, which sets a Marlins record. Known as a strikeout pitcher in Jacksonville, Yamamoto’s fastball was it the pitch that was most effective on Tuesday night.

Prior to the start of the season for the  Jumbo Shrimp, Miami’s Double-A affiliate, Yamamoto told me in an interview with the media that he was excited to be part of the organization since Milwaukee did not seem interested in keeping him. He was part of the deal that sent Christian Yelich to the Brewers.

Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz, and Lewis Brinson are all having solid seasons in New Orleans. And with the early success of Yamamoto, it would appear the Marlins are getting a solid return on their investment.

Yamamoto took it all in stride following the game, talking about his time on the bump. While the start is great and looks to be one the Marlins could have made earlier in the season (with potentially Gallen as well) because of inconsistencies on the mound from Jose Urena and Sandy Alcantara, it is still early in the career of a young pitcher.

It’s also proof the Marlins are using this kind of performance to show they knew what they were doing from the time they put this deal together.

“I definitely didn’t imagine this,” Yamamoto said. “It’s one of those things a kid can only dream about. It just worked out perfectly in my favor. The defense really backed me up tonight. Hitters have backed me up the past two games. It’s one of those things, it’s easy to pitch when you have the lead, and it’s easy to pitch when you trust everybody on the field.”

Yamamoto has earned another chance to start while the Marlins decide who remains in the rotation. Hernandez has been solid in his two starts replacing Caleb Smith in the rotation. Both of his starts resulted in losses. Smith will be back sooner than expected, according to reports.

It will be fun to see what the Marlins do in the coming days. For now, they will bask in the most recent success story on the mound. If Smith comes back and performs like he did to start the season and Yamamoto continues to throw heat and baffle hitters, this could get interesting.

It also makes for great theater. The Marlins aren’t a winning baseball team, but look to have a better chance in the future watching Yamamoto. It’s not something that expected this season. The Marlins will take whatever success they can find.

Sometimes, taking a chance like this, in the wake of an injury, has a way of paying off handsomely.