Marlins’ Jarred Cosart eyes return from DL; Nicolino to get another start
The Marlins have yet to announce what they’re going to do with their starting rotation beyond Thursday’s series finale against the Cardinals, but there are at least two things we learned on Tuesday: the team plans to activate Jarred Cosart from the disabled list soon — possibly as early as Thursday — and rookie Justin Nicolino will make at least one more start.
“You look what Nico did the other day [tossing seven shutout innings in Cincinnati], he certainly pitched good enough to earn another start… definitely, he’ll get another start,” manager Dan Jennings said before Tuesday’s series opener against St. Louis at Marlins Park.
“[Cosart] had a nice outing [Sunday],” Jennings said. “He [threw 104] pitches, walked six, which is a little more than we wanted. But he threw the ball very well.”
Cosart, though, could be headed to the bullpen.
As it stands, the Marlins have Mat Latos and Dan Haren scheduled to pitch Wednesday and Thursday, and Jennings said Tom Koehler, who missed his last start Saturday with a sore neck — opening the door for Nicolino — would start Friday against the Dodgers.
If that’s the case, that leaves Cosart, Nicolino, David Phelps and rookie Jose Urena (Tuesday’s starter) would be the starting options for Saturday and Sunday.
Stanton moves up
Giancarlo Stanton, baseball’s leader in home runs and RBI, is back among the top vote-getters and projected starters for next month’s All-Star Game.
Stanton, who a week ago fell to fourth place among outfielders behind the Giants’ Nori Aoki, moved up to second place Tuesday among National League outfielders with 4,824,989 votes. He trails only Washington’s Bryce Harper, who continues to lead the NL with more than 9.2 million votes.
“I knew they were going to get it right,” Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon said of the fan voting.
Gordon, who was an All-Star for the first time in 2014, leads his respective position with 5,244,914 votes, more than 1.2 million votes more than the Cardinals’ Kolten Wong (4,025,055).
▪ Jose Fernandez, scheduled to make one more rehab start Saturday for Double A Jacksonville before returning to the Marlins rotation July 2, had his most impressive rehab start yet Monday for Single A Jupiter. He gave up four hits and one earned run over seven innings, walked one and struck out nine. He threw 90 pitches and said he felt great afterward.
▪ Jennings said it still looks like third baseman Martin Prado (right shoulder) will come off the disabled list as scheduled when the Giants come to town for a three-game set June 30.
Coming up
▪ Wednesday: Marlins RHP Latos (2-4, 5.37 ERA) vs. Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia (2-3, 1.76), 7:10 p.m.
▪ Thursday: Marlins RHP Haren (6-4, 3.19) vs. Cardinals LHP Lance Lynn (4-4, 3.07), 7:10 p.m.
This story was originally published June 23, 2015 at 8:27 PM with the headline "Marlins’ Jarred Cosart eyes return from DL; Nicolino to get another start."