The Marlins’ roster carousel continues before finale with Nationals. The latest moves.
Another day, another wave of roster moves by the Miami Marlins.
Here’s the quick version from Monday, announced about two hours before the Marlins (11-11) closed out a four-day, five-game set against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park:
▪ Relief pitcher Sterling Sharp, a Rule 5 selection, designated for assignment.
▪ Fellow relief pitcher Stephen Tarpley placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain.
▪ Left-handed pitcher Brandon Leibrandt, who threw four scoreless innings in his MLB debut on Sunday, optioned but remains on the taxi squad for the remainder of the road trip.
▪ Infielder Eddy Alvarez activated from the paternity list but optioned to the team’s alternate training site in Jupiter.
▪ Relief pitchers Jorge Guzman and Jesus Tinoco, along with first baseman Lewin Diaz, recalled and added to the active roster.
The moves came out of a need for bullpen arms. The Marlins follow Monday’s game against the Nationals with a doubleheader against the Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday and do not have an off day until Aug. 31.
“We knew going into a doubleheader tomorrow that if anything happened emergency-wise, we were going to blow up our ‘pen completely,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “We felt like to protect ourselves today and for tomorrow also, we had to do this.”
Sharp, as a Rule 5 selection from the Nationals, had to stay on the active roster for the entire season or else be subject to waivers. Should he clear waivers, Sharp must be offered back to his previous team and can be outrighted to the minor leagues (or, in the case of 2020, the alternate training site) only if his original club does not wish to reacquire him.
Sharp made four appearances for the Marlins this year, putting up a 10.13 ERA and striking out three in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs (four earned) while only recording one out in Sunday’s 9-3 loss to the Nationals.
“As we told Sterling, always with a Rule 5, you’re kind of walking a tightrope to get through,” Mattingly said. “But you know if you get caught somewhere, you can’t do anything with him. Today, we just felt like we couldn’t afford to let it go.”
Sixto staying in the rotation
In other roster moves, Mattingly said that, for the time being, top prospect Sixto Sanchez has a firm spot in the rotation.
Sanchez, the No. 24 overall prospect in baseball according to MLBPipeline, made his MLB debut on Saturday in the second game of Miami’s doubleheader against Washington. He went five innings, giving up three earned runs (all on a pair of home runs), struck out four and walked none to earn the win.
Should he stay on turn, his next start would be Thursday against the Mets, the final game of the Marlins’ road trip.
“Right now, we see him in the rotation,” Mattingly said. “It’s one of the reasons why we let him get ready because we knew there’s a lot in there and we didn’t want to see an excited kid come up and hurt himself. He was ready physically. For right now, he’s going to pitch every fifth day. We’re going to need all our guys and the guys that are coming back, too. Right now, we see him in there every day. He’s in this rotation, and we don’t plan on him going anywhere.”
This and that
▪ Outfielder Corey Dickerson, who left Sunday’s game after taking a tumble while tracking down a foul ball, was in the starting lineup on Monday. He played in left field and batted fourth.
▪ Other lineup notes: Jonathan Villar was not in the leadoff spot for the first time this season. He batted eighth Monday. Jon Berti, playing in center field, batted first for the Marlins.
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