Archive for the 'Call up' Category

Brett Carroll is back with the big team in response to Nick Johnson’s retroactive DL stint. 

Unsuprisingly, Nick Johnson’s Hamstring injury has proven more serious than originally thought. This is the catch 22 with trading for NJ, of course.

Nice to have Brett’s arm back on the team, and maybe he can catch fire against LHP again like he did in June/July. That would be a nice boost, though Hermida has been playing extremely well recently and really slumped when he split time with Carroll last time. Hopefully he doesn’t crumble again.

As expected, the Marlins after Thursday’s game confirmed Anibal Sanchez will get the start in the series opener in Atlanta. They optioned Cristhian Martinez, who had a phenomenal outing Thursday, back to Double-A Jacksonville.

Martinez entered for Josh Johnson in the fifth with the bases loaded and one out. He induced a Carlos Lee double play ball and pitched two more perfect innings. Johnson exited after allowing four runs on seven hits through 4 1/3 innings.

One thing’s for certain: If the Marlins are going to stay in this thing the rotation has to get better in a hurry. We’ve seen some nice starts this month, but overall the starters have been underwhelming. So far in August: 7-5 with a 5.66 ERA and 98 hits in 95 2/3 innings. Perhaps most troubling is that the starters are averaging just under 5 1/3 innings per outing.

With the Phillies up 6 1/2 games with 41 to play, it’s looking more and more like the Marlins’ best shot at the postseason is the wild card. The Rockies have a four-game cushion on the Marlins and Braves, and lead the Giants by two.

Here’s to hoping they can catch some lightning in  a bottle with Anibal. I’ve never been a huge fan of his, but I’d like to see him come back and pitch well, obviously.

Also, this is a weird story coming out of New York:

Mets Deny Sheffield’s Request For Extension
By Brian Shephard [August 21 at 9:10am CST]FRIDAY, 9:10am: Sherman reports that Sheffield demanded to be released or traded to the Marlins.

THURSDAY, 8:48pm: SI’s Jon Heyman reports, via Twitter, that the Giants were the team that claimed Sheffield on waivers earlier this month.

6:23pm: David Lennon at Newsdayreminds us that earlier this month, the Mets placed Sheff on waivers,but pulled him back when he was claimed. This means he cannot betraded; the Mets could release him or place him on irrevocable waiversand lose him if he is claimed.

5:57pm: Via Twitter, Sherman cites a Mets official who says that “Sheffield has not been released.”

5:47pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post is reporting that Gary Sheffieldand the Mets are at odds about his contract situation. Sherman cites”two sources” who say that Sheffield asked the team for a contractextension and was denied. The sources say he is now threatening toleave the team.

The two parties are now in discussions,according to Sherman, and the release of the aging outfielder is “apossibility.” Sheffield was pulled from the roster for tonight’s game,but Jerry Manuel said he pulled himself “to clear his head.”

So he wants to be a Marlin again. This is really odd, as he can’t be traded to us, but if he is released, he might be able to scare off other potential sutors if he really is intent on coming back. His bat would be really nice to start 4 times a week, but I’m not sure there’s any room for him, unless you really want to kill your outfield defense and take Hermida out of the lineup. He’s only played 18 games there this season, but he is sporting a nifty .286/.378/.468 line that would look awfully nice in this lineup.

Would you welcome back one of the all-time great fish?

Well, I kind of gave it all away in the headline, didn’t I?

But yes, Gaby Sanchez will be meeting the team in Houston tonight, implying that Johnson’s injury might be kind of serious, though good to see he’s not going on the DL quite yet. Still don’t expect to see Gaby get much playing time; the management is obviously not thrilled with what he’s shown.

And to make room, Rick Vandenhurk was sent down to AAA New Orleans. Not too surprising given his trouble with the homers, but still would’ve rather seen him stay up and Sean West go down. RVH has shown more than West in my opinion, and he’s more likely to continue to be somewhat successful. He’s kind of like Ricky was early on in the season, and those home runs should normalize. West is also at 130 innings, 30 more than he threw last season. Would’ve been nice to get a few more starts at AA and then shut him down.

Would like to see some more of this.

And lastly, Anibal Sanchez has been great in his rehab starts, so no surprise to see him get the call for Friday. The team is hoping he’ll be able to pitch at a somewhat successful level, something he hasn’t done since that magical run in 06. His control looks pretty good in his rehab starts, and he said he was hitting 95 in his last start, so let’s see what he can do.

Are we going to see Gaby again?

Haven’t heard much by way of Nick Johnson news since his injury during the early part of the first part of Sunday’s first game, and now Gaby Sanchez has been pulled early from the Zephyr’s game today, and it isn’t because of an injury to him, apparently.

It would be a big blow to lose Nick Johnson for an extended period of time, and it’ll be interesting to see what the team does if he is indeed out for a while. Would Bonifacio slide back into an everyday role, or would they keep him in the super sub role (Which he has excelled at) and give Gaby a chance to replace Johnson?

Gaby has been killing it down in AAA over the last few weeks since he got sent back down, and has a 1.068 OPS over his last 50 at bats with 4 homers 7 walks and just 3 Ks.

Still, can’t see the team giving Gaby a shot now if they haven’t yet.

I would personally rather see Brett Carroll back up, but if Johnson is out for a while (Which we don’t know yet, nothing has been said), it makes much more sense to get a CI back up and keep Bonifacio in the Amezaga role.

Third baseman Matt Dominguez, the Marlins’ 2007 first-round pick (12th overall), has been promoted from Class-A Jupiter to Double-A Jacksonville. Dominguez will join the Suns today. After going 39 for his first 176 (.221) with nine doubles, two homers and 13 RBI, Dominguez from June 1 through Sunday batted .298 (61 for 205) with 16 doubles, nine homers and 40 RBI.

Dominguez opened the season as the Marlins’ No. 6 prospect according to Baseball America. He’s a good bet to play in the Arizona Fall League, where Marlins’ third base coach Bo Porter will manager the Mesa club.

Enjoy your moment in the Sun, Matt. (Ed’s note: Oh god, I’m so sorry about that…)

With the Hammerheads, he was hitting .262/.333/.420 with 11hr 38bb and 68k, but Jupiter is a tough place to hit. If you adjust for the environment he played in, you’re looking at a .281/.350/.472/.822 kind of player, which is close to his park adjusted line in Greensboro. And his glove is considered major league, gold glove worthy right now.

But that doesn’t tell the whole story, because he’s been a completely different player in the last two months:

May: 100 AB: .200/.243/.270 – .513 OPS 1 HR, 4 BB, 21 SO
June: 95 AB: .295/.352/.474 – .826 OPS 3 HR, 9 BB, 14 SO
July: 98 AB: .316/.415/.582 – .997 OPS 6 HR, 16 BB, 16 SO

The Suns are now loaded with prospects, as Dominguez, recently ranked 4oth in MiLB.com’s top 50, joins top 25 prospects Logan Morrison and Michael Stanton. I expect Matt to struggle initially at AA, as he did in A and A+, but once he figured it out he smoked both leagues, so I think he’ll be ready to rake at the beginning of next season, because he’ll most likely start in AA next year. But he is officially on the fast track. Crazy to see two 19 year old top prospects on the same AA team with him and Stanton.

Can’t help but feel for the residents of Jupiter, as there’s really not much of a reason to go to games now.