Here’s the latest on Jose Urena after he got hit by a line drive on Marlins Opening Day
Jose Urena walked through the home clubhouse at Marlins Park before a Friday game against the Colorado Rockies without anything resembling a limp. Less than 24 hours earlier, Urena took a line drive off the inside of his left knee on Opening Day and battled some tightness as he labored through 4 2/3 innings.
The Miami Marlins don’t expect it to cost Urena any time, though. The starting pitcher went through his usual day-after-start routine Friday and Don Mattingly said Urena is on track to make his next scheduled start, which would likely come Tuesday against the New York Mets.
“I was surprised,” the manager said before the second game of the Marlins’ season. “I actually saw him right when he was walking in. His gait looked good. I think he had a little swelling in there, it sounded like from medical. He went out and did his running, his first day after a start. He looked pretty good, so we’re pretty confident that he’ll be good.”
As Mattingly spoke from the home dugout in Miami, Urena wrapped up batting practice, where he comfortably laid down bunts after finishing his typical workout session.
“It’s pretty good. It feels better,” Urena said. “I just did kind of a complete workout like I do my routine all the time after I pitch, so everything was fine. It was a little swelling.”
Urena will have a bullpen session Sunday, Mattingly said. As long as everything goes according to plan, Urena will be able to take his usual turn in the Marlins’ rotation.
Urena, who started on Opening Day for the second straight season, gave up four earned runs in his 4 2/3 innings, all four of which came after he was hit by the line drive. The right-handed pitcher’s velocity did drip a bit as he battled through some immediate swelling.
“Nobody has given us any indication they he wouldn’t make a start,” Mattingly said.
Curtis Granderson makes Marlins debut
Curtis Granderson didn’t get to make his debut with Miami (0-1) on the first day of the 2019 season, but he won’t have to wait long Friday to finally get into the batter’s box. The outfielder is making his first start for the Marlins, manning left field and hitting in the lead-off spot against Rockies starting pitcher German Marquez.
Although he said Thursday he likes the potential fellow outfielder Lewis Brinson has at the top of Miami’s order, Mattingly said Granderson batting first is something he foresees as a fixture, at least for the immediate future.
“We’ll see how it goes. Obviously, you’re looking for the best results, so it depends what the results we’re getting how it goes. How guys are swinging the bat — guys can move up and down with that, but starting out this is what we kind of envisioned with Curtis right away,” Mattingly said. “His on-base is still good. Quality at-bats against the righty — not that he can’t do it against a lefty, but we’re looking for him to be that guy for us most of the time.”
Granderson sat out Opening Day because the Rockies (1-0) sent out Kyle Freeland, a Cy Young Award-hopeful left-handed starting pitcher. Something like a platoon at the top of the order could be possible for Brinson if Granderson regularly gets games off against lefties.
With Granderson at the top of the order Friday, Brinson slid all the way down to No. 8.
“I see him better against the lefty right now,” Mattingly said. “I think he’s more consistent against the lefty and then righty, we’ll just see where he goes and what he looks like, so we’ll definitely be able to move him up and down.”
Here are the full lineups for the 7:10 p.m. start at Marlins Park:
Miami Marlins
Curtis Granderson, LF
Brian Anderson, 3B
Neil Walker, 1B
Starlin Castro, 2B
Garrett Cooper, RF
JT Riddle, SS
Jorge Alfaro, C
Lewis Brinson, CF
Trevor Richards, SP
Colorado Rockies
Charlie Blackmon, RF
Daniel Murphy, 1B
Nolan Arenado, 3B
Trevor Story, SS
David Dahl, LF
Ian Desmond, CF
Ryan McMahon, 2B
Tony Wolters, C
German Marquez, SP
This and that
▪ Neil Walker his making his first start of the season, batting third and playing first base. Mattingly sees Walker mostly sticking at first, although he is still an option as a second baseman or third baseman if someone needs a day off. Right now, Walker isn’t an option in the outfield, where he has occasionally played in the past. The utility man didn’t get any reps as an outfielder in spring training.
▪ Mattingly didn’t rule out the possibility of batting his pitcher at No. 8 if the right lineup construction arises. Brinson, in particular, is someone Mattingly mentioned as a player who could be better served batting No. 9 than No. 8. “I think if you have a young kid there, eight hole can be tough for a young player,” Mattingly said. “I guess Lewis could be in that scenario as a young player.”
▪ Osiris Johnson, Miami’s No. 12 prospects in the MLB.com rankings, had surgery to repair a right tibial stress fracture and could miss up to six months. The shortstop prospect, who was the No. 53 overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft, is likely to miss the entire 2019 season.
This story was originally published March 29, 2019 at 5:43 PM.