Updates on Sixto, Cabrera injuries and where Marlins might turn for starting pitching
Two of the Miami Marlins coveted pitching prospects in Sixto Sanchez and Edward Cabrera have yet to see action in live baseball games this season as they continue to deal with injuries. Sanchez has been sidelined with shoulder discomfort since April 1. Cabrera has been dealing with right biceps nerve inflammation since at least the start of spring training.
Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. has not physically been around the top right-handed pitching prospects during their rehab but has all of their work sent to his iPad so he can get a visual on their progress. He has also been in constant communication with those who are there in person, primarily Reid Cornelius and minor-league pitching coordinator Scott Aldred, to get further updates.
The consensus at this point: Cabrera is trending upward. Sanchez is not.
Let’s start with Sanchez, the club’s top prospect and the No. 12 overall prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline. After about a month and a half of flat ground work, he threw his first bullpen session on May 25 and then was shut down after experience discomfort in his shoulder. The Marlins are saying the setback is minor but any setback with Sanchez — who has already dealt with shoulder and elbow injuries in the past — is a cause for concern.
“I’ve watched his bullpens. I’ve watched his throwing program.Some of the things that he was doing before they got better,” Stotlemyre said, “but there’s still a stall in his program. I’m not going to tell you he’s hurt, but I’m just going to tell you it’s not time to you know to move forward and press on the pedal and be thinking about rehab outings. It’s not there.”
As for Cabrera, he threw 35 pitches over two innings in an extended spring training game in the latest sign of positive progress for him.
But Stottlemyre cautioned not to expect an expedited path to the big leagues for Cabrera, the club’s fourth-ranked prospect and the No. 45 overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. Cabrera, 23, has thrown 38 2/3 career innings at Double A and was limited during the shortened 2020 season due to a shoulder injury. He did not throw at all during spring training.
“He’s going to move to three [innings] and that natural progression and try to get him built built up,” Stottlemyre said. “And then with that being said he hasn’t pitched. He pitched, what, a month in Double A? This guy needs some innings, too. He keeps doing some good things, and certainly his name will come up in the discussion to come up and help us when that time is right.”
Marlins looking for outside help?
With that said, the Marlins are in need of starting pitching help at the major-league level. They’ve only had three reliable starters all season in Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Trevor Rogers. The remaining two spots have been a revolving door of pitchers who have gotten hurt (Elieser Hernandez and Cody Poteet are the latest on that front), prospects who haven’t lived up to expectations (Daniel Castano, Nick Neidert and Jordan Holloway, the latter two of whom are also on the injured list at the moment) and bullpen games.
Marlins manage Don Mattingly anticipates the same “cast of characters” helping out in the short term — which points to Castano or fellow lefty Braxton Garrett making a return next homestand — but Stottlemyre indicated that at least introductory discussions have taken place regarding looking outside the organization for pitching help.
“We’ve been very sensitive into the timing of when those [younger prospects] are ready,” Stottlemyre said. “We certainly don’t want to bring a younger guy up when they’re not capable, or when they’re not ready, to go through what they’re going to go through here. We talked about last night about going outside the organization and seeing what’s available and out there. That’s not my job but [the front office knows] how Donnie and I feel in trying to patch and hold this thing together and not bring the wrong guy up to where he can handle some things that we do some long-term damage. I know that [assistant general manager] Dan [Greenlee] and [general mangager] Kim [Ng], and I’m sure they’re talking with [CEO] Derek [Jeter], that they’re going to be exploring some other options to try to to lengthen and create some depth they’re trying to help us get through these patches right now, so you’re probably going to see some other guys come up in the very near future that are going to try to help us patch things together.”
This and that
▪ Holloway is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple A Jacksonville on Saturday. Mattingly said Holloway is expected to throw between 45 and 50 pitches, hopefully over three innings.
▪ The Marlins added right-handed pitcher Zach Thompson to the active roster after placing Poteet on the 10-day IL and moving Hernandez to the 60-day IL.
This story was originally published June 5, 2021 at 2:13 PM.
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