The Miami Marlins have a new pitching problem

The 2024 season starts with the Miami Marlins missing the 2022 NL Cy Young award winner. This means that the Opening Day starter will be none other than Jesus Luzardo. Eury Perez is going to follow him in the rotation, but it's the rest that becomes a bit of a question mark. The proverbial question mark has been amplified by recent health reports involving Edward Cabrera suffering a right shoulder impingement.

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera throws a wrench into the team's plans.

Jesus Luzardo and Eury Perez will be the top two starters in the Miami Marlins rotation. The other three spots however are a concern. Braxton Garrett was a lock for the third spot, until he ended up having his own health concerns. Garrett should still be in the rotation within the first month of the season. that said, in the meantime, A.J. Puk is likely to fill-in for him. He might even stick in the rotation after.

Trevor Rogers and Edward Cabrera were supposed to round out the rotation. Now however there's a big question on how Cabrera will be. I'm remaining hopeful that it's not a serious injury. It certainly doesn't sound too bad, as so far the talk is that he'll be evaluated day-to-day. He also had a similar ailment last season and missed a month, not anything longer than that.

All of that said, you have to consider that pitching injuries are always major red flags. The fact that Edward Cabrera already had a similar injury last season, implies that there might be something there that needs to be checked and healed. It's still way too early to make assumptions going forward, but it does look like The Fish have enough depth to hold on until Cabrera is back.

It's also important to point out that Cabrera was a bottom of the rotation starter last season, and was competing for the same for this season. This means that losing him will likely not affect the team that much. That's not to say that he won't be missed, just that this isn't a situation that should affect the season in any major way.