Marlins lose two outfielders to injury in loss to Reds

The Miami Marlins’ 12-0 streak in one-run games came to an end on Saturday, as they dropped a 6-5 result to the Reds.  However, the loss may have had a bigger-picture cost, with outfielders Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jesus Sanchez both having to make early exits due to injury.

Sanchez’s day lasted just one inning. He suffered a sore right hamstring while making a diving catch on a Tyler Stephenson fly ball in the top of the first and was replaced in right field by Peyton Burdick for the top of the second inning.  Chisholm made his own attempt at a highlight catch in the eighth, but collided with the wall while in full pursuit of a Henry Ramos fly ball that landed for a double.  After staying down for a few minutes while being examined by trainers, Chisholm left the game and was replaced by Garrett Hampson in center field.  The team later announced that Chisholm had suffered a contusion on his right foot.

Sanchez will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of his injury, though a trip to the injured list seems like it will be in order considering that the outfielder has been dealing with hamstring problems for a few days, now.  He had to leave Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks due to a hamstring soreness. After Thursday’s day off, Sanchez pinch-hit in Friday’s game and then returned to the starting lineup in earnest on Saturday.

After getting off to a very slow start, Sanchez has been one of baseball’s hitters over the last few weeks, registering a 1.185 OPS over his last 42 plate appearances.  This hot streak has boosted his season slash line to .290/.364/.551, with 72 of his 77 PA coming against right-handed pitching.  While the Marlins are still using Sanchez in a platoon capacity, he has certainly carved out a valuable role for himself on a team in sore need of offense.

X-rays were negative on Chisholm’s foot, meaning that as ugly as his collision initially looked, the center fielder might have avoided serious structural damage.  A trip to the IL can’t be ruled out if Chisholm experiences swelling or soreness in the foot over the next couple of days, but he did tell reporters after the game that his foot was already feeling somewhat better.  We might not have an answer on his status until Tuesday, since it seems likely that Miami will sit Chisholm for Sunday’s game before they hit their off day Monday.

Chisholm is hitting a modest .229/.291/.403 over 159 PA this season, though he does have seven home runs and 14 steals in 16 chances.  While this offensive production is below average, the Marlins’ experiment of moving Chisholm from second base to center field seems to be working out, depending on your preferred public defensive metric.  Both the Outs Above Average (+3) and UZR/150 (+6.6) metrics are fans of Chisholm’s glovework, though the Defensive Runs Saved metrics grade Chisholm with -4 DRS.  Of course, Saturday’s mishap also highlights some of the injury risk posed by the position switch, even if Chisholm also dealt with plenty of injuries while working as an infielder.

Losing two regular outfielders would be a blow to any team, but Miami is already thin on the grass with Avisail Garcia and Garrett Cooper both currently on the 10-day IL.  Cooper is at least close to a return from his inner ear infection and was able to start a minor league rehab assignment on Friday.  Burdick, Jorge Soler and utilitymen Hampson and Jon Berti can all play the outfield on at least a short-term basis. Joey Wendle also has outfield experience, though he has played exclusively as an infielder since the start of the 2020 season.  Looking further down the depth chart, Jerar Encarnacion is the only other outfielder on the Marlins’ 40-man roster.