Miami Marlins Make Several Moves at Major League Level

The Miami Marlins made three trades in the leadup to the trade deadline last week.

It’s been reported that there have also been a few major league moves in the works. According to Craig Mish, the Miami Marlins will call up second baseman Isan Diaz to take the place of outfielder Cesar Puello, who is going to the injured list.

Diaz has made a lot of noise in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League this season, with a circuit-seventh 26 home runs, along with 70 RBI. He’s currently hitting .305/.395/.578 for the New Orleans Baby Cakes in 102 contests, just one shade below the major leagues.

It was largely assumed that the Miami Marlins would part ways with incumbent second baseman Starlin Castro as part of their trade assets – but Castro is still here. To make way for Diaz, Castro was seen fielding grounders at third base during practice.

This would make Brian Anderson‘s new starting position right field, officially. Since his promotion in late 2017, Anderson has played 162 games at third base and 128 in right, so it’s hardly a big stretch to move him out there more-or-less permanently.

The Miami Marlins have also allegedly called up Lewis Brinson. In 136 games over parts of two seasons with the major league club, Brinson had hit just .190/.240/.321 with 170 K’s in 560 plate appearances, a 30.4 percent strikeout rate. Since rejoining the triple-A Cakes this year, he’s put up a .270/.361/.510 slashline, although he still logged 100 whiffs in 339 PA (a 29.5 percent K-rate), along with 16 homers and 56 RBI.

Both Diaz and Brinson were acquired in the much-discussed Christian Yelich trade with the Milwaukee Brewers prior to the 2018 season, along with Miami Marlins current starting pitcher Jordan Yamamoto and triple-A outfielder Monte Harrison.

Robert Dugger also got the news that he’d be joining the Miami Marlins from the Baby Cakes. According to Jordan McPherson, at the Miami Herald (read more here):

"Dugger, the Marlins’ No. 24 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, will be the third starting pitcher to make his debut with the Marlins this year following Jordan Yamamoto and Zac Gallen.The Marlins acquired him from the Seattle Mariners along with pitcher Nick Neidert and shortstop Christopher Torres in the Dee Gordon trade."

Dugger has struggled at the Triple-A level with the Baby Cakes, going 2-3 with a 9.34 ERA and a .355 opposing batting average. Despite that, his toolbox remains unchanged. He was solid in 13 starts for the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp prior to joining the Cakes this season, going 6-6 with a 3.31 ERA.

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In addition to those three additions to the major league roster, reliever Kyle Keller made his major league debut on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. He allowed a hit, a walk, a run, and struck a batter out of 1 2/3 innings of work. He was the 582nd player to appear in a regular season game for the Miami Marlins.

Ryne Stanek is also expected to make his debut with the team after coming over from the Rays, sometime during the Marlins series against the New York Mets.

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