Miami Marlins’ Elieser Hernandez looks solid in return only to get hurt again in loss
Elieser Hernandez, making his first MLB start in two months after an extended stint on the injured list, was pitching one of the best games of his young MLB career.
It ended as he scored what at the time was the go-ahead run for the Miami Marlins in the top of the sixth inning in an eventual 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday at PNC Park to open a three-game series. The Pirates’ Jacob Stallings hit a two-out, three-run double in the eighth against Marlins reliever Dylan Floro to give Pittsburgh its first lead of the game.
Miami is now 24-31 and has lost six consecutive games. The Pirates are 21-34.
“The last couple games, it hurts,” Floro said. “Anytime your offense gives you a chance, we have to go out there and shut the door. ... We kind of got punched in the jaw. It hurts.”
Hernandez pulled up running from third base to home on a Jesus Aguilar RBI groundout. He laid on the ground to the right of home plate as Marlins manager Don Mattingly and assistant team trainer Brad LaRosa before being carried off the field.
The team announced that Hernandez has a right quad strain.
“You feel bad for the kid,” Mattingly said, “because he’s been battling to get back. It’s been a long road. I really feel bad for the kid. I mean obviously it hurt us as a team, but you feel bad for guys when they take so much time to get back.”
Prior to the injury, Hernandez had held the Pirates to one run on three hits over five innings of work. He struck out six batters and didn’t allow a walk. Of his 68 pitches, 49 were strikes.
He worked around an early jam in the first when he put runners on the corners by striking out both Gregory Polanco and Stallings looking with precisely located four-seam fastballs. It was the start of a run in which Hernandez retired 14 of 15 hitters, the lone blemish being a solo home run to Bryan Reynolds in the fourth inning.
He helped his cause as well, dropping a sacrifice bunt in the third that moved Jon Berti into scoring position before Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit an RBI single to left to open scoring. Hernandez then recorded a single to lead off the sixth, moved to third on a Starling Marte double off the wall in center field and scored on Aguilar’s groundout. The Marlins added another run after Hernandez’s exit when Garrett Cooper hit an RBI single up the middle.
Thursday was Hernandez’s first MLB start since April 3, when he was removed after 2 1/3 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays with what was eventually diagnosed as right biceps inflammation. He spent the following two months slowly rehabbing and made three starts with the Triple A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp leading up to Thursday’s return.
Elieser missed most of the 2020 season with a right lat injury and also has dealt with blister injuries in the past.
“Everybody was happy with the ways he’s been recovering and bouncing back and the way his finger’s holding up and the shoulder has had no issues,” Mattingly said. “He got his pitches in. The biggest thing [pitching coach] Mel [Stottlemyre Jr.] wanted to see was making sure he was throwing all his pitches and using his slider enough. The slider’s the pitch that seemed to create that little blister or finger issue. ... We were happy with everything and the way it went.”
Hernandez’s return was supposed to be the last piece of the Marlins’ short-term puzzle that has been filling out their starting rotation.
With Hernandez back in the mix, Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez serving as the established veterans of a young starting pitching corps, and rookies Trevor Rogers and Cody Poteet off to solid starts, Miami was now fielding a steady five-pitcher rotation for the first time all season.
It lasted all of five innings.
Miguel Rojas update
Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas, who is on the injured list with a left index-finger dislocation, said on the latest episode of the “Chris Rose Rotation” podcast on Thursday that he’s feeling “really, really good already” as he continues his rehab.
“I thought I was going to miss more time,” Rojas said, “but I’m working my [butt] off every single day to get back on the field as soon as possible. I’m not going to let this injury take extra time that I’m supposed to be out for.”
Mattingly said pregame Thursday that Rojas’ pain and swelling are starting to subside. Rojas is throwing but not catching. He is also keeping his arm active with range-of-motion drills.
Rojas is remaining active in the team’s group chat, which includes texts with the day’s starting lineup and schedule.
“The main thing is it looks like it’s progressing evenly and naturally the way it should,” Mattingly said. “No setbacks with that. Miggy’s a part of the group, and nowadays the technology is so much different. These guys are on chats and they’re back and forth all the time, so if he’s in the hotel room or in his house it doesn’t seem like that much different. Obviously we miss him on the field, we miss him in the clubhouse — that leadership side of it, production, all those types of things. But as far as him being a part of the group, nowadays that’s just a different arena. Those guys seem to be able to stay connected.”
Roster moves
The Marlins designated infielder Luis Marte for assignment to make room for Hernandez on both the 40-man roster and the 26-man active roster.
Outfielder Lewis Brinson, dealing with a left middle finger injury, also ended his rehab assignment and was optioned to Triple A Jacksonville.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 9:17 PM.
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