Miami Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro injures jaw in loss to San Diego Padres
Catcher Jorge Alfaro left the Miami Marlins’ 5-2 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Friday night after the seventh inning with jaw discomfort after a foul ball ricocheted off his mask.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said postgame that he did not know the severity of the injury but did not believe it was serious.
“Obviously, I don’t know how sore it’s going to be tomorrow,” Mattingly said, “but it’s not like they were talking about the concussion protocol. I think that was good news. The doctor was just in there and they didn’t see any signs of that.”
The Marlins (19-36) were already dealing with injuries at catcher before Friday. The team placed Chad Wallach on the 10-day Injured List with a concussion. As of Friday, Wallach was still in the concussion protocol. With no other catchers on the 40-man roster other than Alfaro and Wallach,tThe Marlins added Bryan Holaday to the 40-man roster and brought him up from triple A New Orleans to the 25-man active roster on May 24 after they placed Wallach on the IL.
Alfaro is hitting .273 on the year with a team-best eight home runs. The catcher is second on the team in both RBI (19) and runs scored (18). He had recorded hits in five of his past six starts heading into Friday, including a career-best four-hit night on Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants.
This is the latest health scare for Alfaro this season. He suffered a pair of knee injuries during spring training, a minor upper body injury after sliding awkwardly into second base against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 13 and a mild left calf strain against the New York Mets on May 18. He has not been placed on the IL at any point this season.
The Marlins currently have seven players on the IL: Wallach; pitchers Drew Steckenrider (60-day IL, right elbow inflammation), Riley Ferrell (60-day IL, biceps tendinitis) and Julian Fernandez (60-day IL, rehab from Tommy John surgery); utility Jon Berti (10-day IL, left oblique strain); outfielder Peter O’Brien (10-day IL, bruised left rib) and Neil Walker (10-day, right quad strain)
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