How Jesus Sanchez’s injury impacts the Miami Marlins’ outfield plan to start the season
The Miami Marlins were dealt a major injury hit less than two weeks before Opening Day.
Outfielder Jesus Sanchez, the team’s longest-tenured position player, is sidelined by a left oblique strain. He is expected to be out for four weeks, which means he will miss at least the first two weeks of the regular season. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough confirmed to reporters in Jupiter that Sanchez will begin the season on the injured list.
“All you can do now is take the time that’s required to have this thing heal up and get yourself built back up, because it’s not an area in a place where you want to be too aggressive with how you come back, because we’ve just seen a lot of cases where those things, they can linger,” McCullough said. “So we want to be smart on the front end to be sure you get it knocked out and have as much of the season remaining when you come back as we can.”
Sanchez has steadily seen his playing time increase each season since making his MLB debut during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Last season, the outfielder set career-highs in games played (149), at-bats, hits (123), doubles (25), home runs (18), RBI (64), runs scored (60) and stolen bases (16) while hitting .252 with a .730 on-base-plus-slugging mark.
“It’s a big piece for us,” McCullough said. “We were counting on him, but this is kind of next man up, and it’ll be an opportunity for others to get a chance to get out there.”
With him sidelined at least in the short term, the Marlins will have to pivot slightly with their outfielder plan to begin the season.
So who makes the cut?
The most likely result will be Derek Hill, Kyle Stowers and Dane Myers being the Marlins’ starting outfielders. Hill and Myers were competing for the center field spot, but with Sanchez out, one of Hill or Myers can play center field while the other takes Sanchez’s spot in right field. Stowers would then be the left fielder.
As far as backups, this opens the door for either Griffin Conine or Heriberto Hernandez to crack the Opening Day roster. Conine, the son of Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine, hit .268 (22 for 82) with three home runs, 12 RBI and 14 runs scored in 30 games last season. Hernandez, who joined the Marlins as a minor-league free agent in November and has not yet made his MLB debut, has impressed in spring training with a .292 batting average (7 for 24) and five RBI. Conine is on the 40-man roster. Hernandez is not.
Javier Sanoja, the Marlins’ No. 15 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, also has an inside track to make the roster as a super-utility player. Sanjoa can play just about anywhere on the field, although the three outfield spots and the middle infield are where he has the most experience.
“We still have plenty of options,” McCullough said.
Beyond those five spots, the Marlins’ other eight position-player roster spots figure to be catchers Nick Fortes and Liam Hicks, first basemen Matt Mervis and Jonah Bride, second baseman Otto Lopez, shortstop Xavier Edwards, third baseman Connor Norby and one of Eric Wagaman or Graham Pauley to serve as a backup corner infielder.
This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 10:23 AM.
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