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.

In other news, looks like Rick VandenHurk will slide into Sean West’s starter spot. VandenHurk started tonight for Triple-A New Orleans, but he exited after three shutout innings of one-hit ball. That abbreviated outing enables him to start Monday’s series opener at San Diego.

The interesting question is who the Marlins send down? They currently have eight relievers. My guess would be Brian Sanches even though he’s done nothing to merit a demotion. The bullpen has been fantastic lately, allowing just two earn runs over its last 23 1/3 innings for a 0.77 ERA.

-Juan C Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel

RVH has been terrific in AAA this year, so he could really provide a spark.