Marlins’ Edward Cabrera removed from loss to Braves as precaution with right toe injury
.JPG "Miami Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera (79) pitching against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Hakim Wright Sr)")
Let’s start with the silver lining: Edward Cabrera’s removal in the fourth inning of the Miami Marlins’ 5-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday was a precaution.
The official diagnosis was right big toe soreness, which Cabrera said stemmed from “friction with the mound, which was bothering me on my toe.”
“There was a hole in there,” Cabrera said. “Just discomfort. Pretty sure I’m going to be fine for my next outing.”
But with a prized prospect like Cabrera, ranked as the No. 30 overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, the Marlins weren’t going to take any chances.
Not when there’s nothing to gain from a team standpoint. Miami is 60-83 on the year, 23 games under .500 with 19 games left in the regular season.
And not when you consider Cabrera’s past injury history — a shoulder injury while at the alternate training site in the shortened 2020 season and biceps nerve inflammation that forced him to not throw during spring training and delayed his 2021 minor-league debut until June.
“Just got him out of there to be safe,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly, who added he anticipates Cabrera making his next scheduled start. “Didn’t want him changing his delivery because his foot’s not able to push off.”
Moments after Cabrera gave up a two-out, two-run home run to the Braves’ Eddie Rosario, Mattingly, head athletic trainer Gene Basham, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and the Marlins’ infield converged to check on Cabrera, who was digging his cleat into the mound.
Cabrera threw one warm-up pitch before Mattingly took him out of the game.
“I wanted to continue,” Cabrera said, “but the team noticed I was in pain and discomfort. They decided to take me out.”
The home run accounted for the only runs Cabrera allowed on Sunday over 3 2/3 innings. He struck out four batters while allowing six baserunners on three hits and three walks in what was amounting to one of the best starts of his young MLB career.
Cabrera retired the first five batters he faced and avoided jams in the second and third innings.
In the second, he worked around a Joc Pederson single and Dansby Swanson walk by striking out Rosario looking on a 92.3 mph changeup. In the third, he had runners on the corners with two outs and stranded them both when he struck out Austin Riley with an elevated 91.4 mph changeup.
“I thought he was pretty good today,” Mattingly said. “He was on the attack, more in the zone.”
Through four starts, Cabrera has a 6.61 ERA (12 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings) with nine strikeouts against 10 walks.
“I have been working a lot at getting better control,” Cabrera said, “and having a lot of trust in his first pitch, which is the fastball.”
Taylor Williams took over for Cabrera and held the Braves to one run in 1 1/3 innings.
Richard Bleier then threw a perfect sixth inning before Ozzie Albies and Freddie Freeman hit solo home runs against Anthony Bass in the seventh to give the Braves (76-66) the lead for good.
Jesus Sanchez keeps hitting home runs
Jesus Sanchez’s power was on full display once again.
The Marlins’ rookie outfielder crushed his third home run in as many games against the Braves, sending a first-pitch fastball from Max Fried a projected 460 feet to straightaway center field in the second inning.
According to Statcast, it was the longest home run hit by a Marlins player this year.
Sanchez now has 10 home runs on the season. Seven of those home runs, including all three this series, have been hit at least 400 feet.
“He’s as strong as an ox,” Mattingly said. “When he hits them, they go. He’s one of those guys where with our ballpark, it doesn’t really matter. If he’s hitting balls, they’re going.”
Sanchez had three hits on Sunday, including the game-tying RBI single in the sixth and a leadoff triple in the ninth that brought the tying run to the plate. The Marlins couldn’t capitalize in that final frame, though, as Braves reliever Will Smith worked around the triple and a one-out walk to Isan Diaz by getting Alex Jackson to pop out and Eddy Alvarez to ground out to third base.
This and that
▪ The Marlins went 8-11 in 19 games against the Braves this season. Fourteen of the 19 games were decided by two runs or fewer, with Miami going 6-8 in those 14 games.
▪ Mattingly kept Jorge Alfaro out of the lineup Sunday after he left Saturday’s game with left calf tightness and hopes to have a clearer understanding of where he stands physically before Miami starts its series with the Washington Nationals on Monday.
“He was really sore today,” Mattingly said. “We were going to stay away from him today. We’ll see where he’s at [Monday] and I guess wherever that goes tells us if there’s actually something going on in there more than just a cramp that kind of caused all this soreness.”
This story was originally published September 12, 2021 at 2:58 PM.
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