The Miami Marlins came out of spring training almost fully healthy and hopeful they could get out to a fast start to start to improve on last year.
Less than a week into the regular season, injuries are already starting to pile up, with Johnny Cueto and Joey Wendle both landing on the injured list Tuesday.
“Very frustrating,” Wendle said. “Anytime somebody gets hurt, it’s frustrating.”
Both Cueto and Wendle got hurt Monday, and underwent MRIs. Cueto’s revealed no structural damage in his right biceps, but he’s going on the 10-day IL because of soreness in the muscle, while Wendle’s showed a right intercostal strain, so he’s going on the 15-day IL, too.
Miami recalled starting pitcher Braxton Garrett to replace Cueto and utility player Garrett Hampson to replace Wendle.
The Marlins also selected the contract of Castano on Tuesday and designated fellow starting pitcher Jeff Lindgren for assignment after Lindgren pitched five innings in relief of Cueto against the Twins on Monday, but Castano will work out of the bullpen for now.
Johnny Cueto’s nagging biceps injury
The biceps injury isn’t new for Cueto and the muscle has been bothering him off and on for most of the last three weeks, ever since he made his lone appearance for the Dominican Republic in the 2023 World Baseball Classic last month.
The 37-year-old starting pitcher admitted he felt like he was “rushing” to get ready for the season and he dealt with arm soreness during the final weeks of the preseason. He then felt discomfort during his pregame routine Monday, but “didn’t say anything,” he said. His Miami debut — the Marlins signed him in the offseason to provide some veteran depth to their rotation — ultimately lasted all of 30 pitches, as he left the game with no outs in the second inning, in the middle of an at-bat with Minnesota catcher Christian Vazquez.
Cueto gave up three hits, a walk, four earned runs and two home runs in his lone inning-plus.
“We’re hoping it’s a 15-day thing,” Schumaker said. “The MRI came back really good, really positive stuff with not much inflammation at all in the bicep, which had been the concern. ... We just want him to be ready and I think him being built up the right way has been the challenge, honestly, with the WBC and him going that one game, and maybe trying to do a little too much that one game in the WBC and just hasn’t really felt right since then, so just trying to build him up the right way is the goal.”
Garrett will take Cueto’s place in the rotation, although Miami isn’t exactly sure yet how many pitches he’ll be able to throw, given he was built up to be a relief pitcher this year. The 25-year-old pitcher gave up two runs in three innnings in his lone appearance as a reliever this year, but posted a 3.58 ERA across 17 starts as a rookie last season.
Apr 1, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins shortstop Joey Wendle (18) dives but cannot catch a base hit from New York Mets catcher Omar Narvaez (not pictured) during the eighth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Wendle’s hard-to-predict injury
Wendle is also hopeful his injury won’t keep him out much longer than the minimum 10 days required by going on the IL, although Schumaker is careful to caution how much uncertainty is involved with oblique and intercostal injuries.
When he was a player, Schumaker once had an oblique injury keep him out for months and once had one just keep him out about two weeks, he said.
“I’m optimistic it’s not too bad,” Wendle said. “Hopefully, I’ll be back out there shortly.”
Wendle’s injury occurred during batting practice, when he started to feel some discomfort and knew, “I was not supposed to keep swinging there,” he said.
His MRI showed an intercostal injury rather than an oblique injury, which is a positive development. Still, Miami, already struggling to score, will now be without one of its most accomplished hitters for at least two weeks.
In the meantime, Berti and Hampson will take over at shortstop, which could give the Marlins a new dimension. Miami entered Tuesday as one of only two teams in the Majors yet to steal a base—stolen bases are up across the league—and the fill-in shortstops combined for 78 steals in the 2021 and 2022 MLB seasons.
“It’s part of my game,” Hampson said. “I’m going to try to do that when I can up here, too.”
