ATLANTA — The long ball doomed Elieser Hernandez again.
The Miami Marlins’ starting pitcher gave up three home runs — all solo shots — over four innings in a 6-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Sunday at Truist Park. The Marlins (19-26) dropped two of three against the Braves this series and have lost four of five games on this road trip that concludes with a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies.
Hernandez has now allowed 14 home runs, the third most by a pitcher this season, over 43 2/3 innings. That includes at least one in eight of his nine starts and multiple homers in four of nine starts. Those home runs have accounted for 18 of 32 runs — 56.3 percent — Hernandez has allowed this season.
On Sunday, Hernandez gave up back-to-back two-out home runs to Marcell Ozuna and Austin Riley in the first before Ozuna hit another solo shot in the third. The Braves (23-25) tacked on another run against Hernandez in the second on back-to-back doubles from Ozzie Albies and William Contreras. Atlanta added two more runs in the fifth against reliever Tommy Nance.
But for better or for worse — and it has mostly been for worse so far this season — Hernandez likely isn’t getting removed from the rotation in the near future because of where the Marlins’ current pitching situation stands.
Jesus Luzardo has yet to begin a throwing program two weeks after being placed on the injured list with a left forearm strain after the Marlins initially said they were optimistic Luzardo’s injury stint would be short.
“You guys can kind of do the math how long he hasn’t thrown,” manager Don Mattingly said. “With a starter, you got to build up, so it’s gonna be extended. Yeah, it’s not as good as we would have liked.”
Cody Poteet, who has pitched in Luzardo’s slot in the rotation the last two turns after starting the season as a long reliever in the bullpen, is now on the injured list himself as he deals with a right elbow muscle injury.
With Poteet out and Luzardo still a ways away from returning, the Marlins already have an open spot in their rotation they have to fill for one game of their upcoming set with the Rockies series before even thinking about replacing Hernandez. Mattingly said pregame Sunday the front office is having ongoing discussions, but the plan will be to either call up a starting pitcher or do a bullpen day. Discussions are ongoing.
Who could those options be? At the moment, there are slim pickings.
Max Meyer, Sixto Sanchez and Jordan Holloway are on the minor-league injured list, so that knocks out three candidates.
Braxton Garrett was activated from the minor league IL on Sunday and threw five scoreless innings for Triple A Jacksonville but was removed after 55 pitches. He likely would not be available to start Tuesday.
That leaves Edward Cabrera, the fourth-ranked prospect in the Marlins’ system and No. 49 overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, as the only viable starting pitcher option on the Marlins’ 40-man roster who is not on the active roster. He would be on regular rest to pitch Tuesday.
But the Marlins might even be hesitant to make that call. Cabrera’s season debut was delayed while he dealt with biceps muscle fatigue. In five starts with Triple A Jacksonville, Cabrera has a 4.56 ERA, .225 batting average against, 1.35 walks and hits per inning pitched ratio and 32 strikeouts against 12 walks over 23 2/3 innings. He has completed at least five innings in just two of those five outings.
Outside of Cabrera, Daniel Castano could be used as an opener or multi-inning reliever. He threw five innings for Triple A Jacksonville on Friday.
“I’ll let [general manager] Kim [Ng] and the group talk about it,” Mattingly said. “Kind of weighed in on it [Saturday] when we found out about Cody. They’re working through it right now.”
Jorge Soler scored all three of the Marlins’ runs with a solo home run in the first inning and a two-run homer in the seventh. He now has a team-leading 11 home runs on the season.
Injury updates and roster moves
— The Marlins on Sunday activated outfielder Avisail Garcia from the injured list after placing him there Friday for undisclosed reasons. To make room for Garcia on the 40-man roster, infielder Joe Dunand was designated for assignment.
Garcia was not in the starting lineup Sunday but should be set to play when the Marlins begin their three-game series against the Rockies on Monday.
— Brian Anderson was not available to play Sunday while dealing with lower back spasms, but Mattingly said he is doing “a lot better today, walking more up and down. The spasms seem to have released for the most part.”
