‘This isn’t really an easy one to wash off’: The Miami Marlins’ season is unraveling fast
The Miami Marlins left the field Monday without any answers. They were down by four runs at the end of the first inning and down by 10 at the end of the second. Their playoff hopes — already slim at the All-Star break — are teetering toward nonexistent, so they did what desperate teams have done for generations: They gathered in the clubhouse, someone gave a speech and they talked about what was going wrong.
The team meeting, as evidenced by how long it took Mattingly to jump onto Zoom for his virtual postgame press conference, lasted somewhere close to 45 minutes and came at the end of a nightmarish four days for the last-place Marlins. A COVID-19 scare started the second half, a trio of injuries capped the weekend and then an 18-1 loss to the Washington Nationals on Monday — Miami’s most lopsided of the season — dropped the Marlins even further in to the National League East’s cellar.
“This isn’t really an easy one to wash off,” Mattingly said. “We talked about some stuff, but nothing I’m going to share.”
Pitcher Ross Detwiler gave up eight runs and four homers without getting an out in the second inning. The Nationals hit six home runs total, including one off catcher Sandy Leon in the bottom of the seventh. Washington starting pitcher Jon Lester completed seven innings for the first time all year, held Miami to six hits and no runs before exiting, and blasted a fifth-inning homer off pitcher David Hess to send an already jubilant crowd of 15,283 at Nationals Park into hysterics.
The loss drops the Marlins (40-53) to a season-worst 14 games below .500 and gives them a negative run differential for the first time all season. Fourth-place Washington (44-49) now has a 4 1/2-game lead on Miami.
It came at the end -- or at least Miami hopes it’s the end -- of a potentially season-altering weekend. Outfielder Jesus Sanchez landed on the COVID-related IL on Friday in Philadelphia. Starting pitcher Pablo Lopez went on the IL with a right rotator cuff sprain Saturday. The Marlins lost twice Sunday, and lost Chisholm and Cooper to injuries. On Monday, they suffered one of the worst losses in franchise history.
“It was kind of a wraparound weekend from hell,” Mattingly said.
While Miami avoided the potential worst-case scenarios for Chisholm and Cooper, the Marlins will now be without two of their best hitters until at least July 29 as they desperately try to fight back into contention by the July 30 trade deadline.
Miami placed both on the 10-day injured list Monday before the Marlins even got back MRI results. Chisholm is out with a bone bruise in his left shoulder and Cooper is out with a sprained left elbow. After both appeared to be in serious pain when they left the field at Citizens Bank Park, it “was as good as we could’ve asked for with both guys,” Mattingly said. He expects both to play again this season.
Chisholm’s left arm was dangling limp Sunday after he landed awkwardly on it while trying to make a diving catch against superstar outfielder Bryce Harper in the bottom of the first. Cooper vigorously shook his arm after Phillies outfielder Travis Jankowski ran into it while Cooper tried to extend for a catch in the base path, and the same sort of play led to Tommy John surgery for Philadelphia first baseman Rhys Hoskins last year. The Marlins took preliminary X-rays on Chisholm’s shoulder Sunday and they came back negative, but the team waited until Monday to take an MRI on Cooper’s elbow.
They both should avoid any long-term absence. They probably won’t be back until it’s too late for Miami.
With the two injuries, the Marlins called up outfielder Lewis Brinson and relief pitcher Andrew Bellatti on Monday. Brinson, a career .192 hitter, immediately slotted into the starting lineup for Cooper, playing left field and batting seventh. Joe Panik, batting .143 in 13 games with the the Marlins, took over Chisholm’s spot at second base, batting sixth.
Cooper was batting .284, and Chisholm was one of only 12 players in the Majors with at least 11 homers and 11 steals, and a contender for an MLB Rookie of the Year Award.
Without them, it took until the eighth inning for Miami to score a run. It ultimately didn’t matter because of the mess Detwiler (1-1) put the Marlins in, but Lester (3-4) tore threw Miami’s shorthanded lineup after entering the day with a 5.54 ERA.
The Marlins are down to two starting pitchers left from their projected preseason rotation. Injuries have robbed them of two players from their Opening Day lineup, another is gone via trade and Cooper, who frequently bats third when he’s in the lineup, is out, too. While it’s mostly past the COVID-19 concerns of last week, Miami is missing another one of its most promising young hitters — a top-100 prospect in MLB.com’s rankings — because of the coronavirus.
Starling Marte was also out of the lineup Monday for because of a minor shoulder injury, a day after extension talks finally broke down between the outfielder and the Marlins, sources told the Miami Herald.
After the game ended, the Marlins retreated into their clubhouse and tried to sort through everything going wrong. There are no easy answers and dwindling solutions. With the trade deadline 11 days away and Miami sitting sitting 10 1/2 games out of first place, the Marlins’ season is on the brink. Everyone knows it, even if they’re not going to phrase it in quite that way.
Marlins sign five draft picks
Miami signed five of its picks from the first two days of the 2021 MLB draft Sunday, sources told the Miami Herald.
The five players: fourth-rounder pick Tanner Allen, fifth-rounder Brady Allen, sixth-rounder Sam Praytor, seventh-rounder Gabe Bierman and eighth-rounder Patrick Monteverde. While the Marlins still haven’t announced their signings, several players posted photographs of themselves signing contracts on social media.
As a fourth-round pick, Allen is the top player signed by the Marlins so far, and they signed him to an under-slot deal. The outfielder batted .383 with 19 doubles, 11 home runs and a 1.076 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for the national champion Mississippi State Bulldogs last year to earn Southeastern Conference Player of the Year honors.
The other Allen batted .276 with 12 stolen bases and 13 home runs for the South Carolina Gamecocks last season, and signed a slot deal. Praytor, a catcher for the Alabama Crimson Tide, batted .277 with 14 home runs in 2021.
Bierman and Monteverde are both starting pitchers, from the Indiana Hoosiers and Texas Tech Red Raiders, respectively. Bierman posted a 2.68 ERA with 80 strikeouts and 30 walks in 74 innings last season, and Monteverde had a 3.75 ERA with 101 strikeouts and 21 walks in 86 1/3.
Miami still has not signed either of its first-day picks. Negotiations are ongoing with No. 16 pick Kahlil Watson and No. 31 pick Joe Mack.
Up next
Trevor Rogers will make his first start of the second half Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. against the Nationals. The All-Star starting pitcher will take the mound against Washington pitcher Paolo Espino.
Rogers, 23, finished the first half with a 2.31 ERA and hasn’t pitched in a regular-season game since July 10 as the Marlins try to manage the rookie’s innings down the stretch.
This story was originally published July 19, 2021 at 5:06 PM.
