Breaking down the Marlins’ plan to fill Marte’s void and who’s getting the first chance

For at least the next week, and potentially longer than that, the Miami Marlins will have to adjust to playing without their star center fielder.

The team officially placed Starling Marte on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left rib, with his earliest possible return coming during the Marlins’ series against the Washington Nationals to close a three-city road trip. The Marlins said Monday following Marte’s MRI that he would be shut down for five to seven days before being re-evaluated.

With Marte out, Lewis Brinson is the first player to get a chance at filling his spot. Brinson was called up from the alternate training site and started in center field and batted eighth in the Marlins’ 7-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday to begin a two-game series at loanDepot park. The Marlins are now 7-9 on the season. Baltimore is 8-9.

Brinson reached base twice in four plate appearances, hitting a single in the second and drawing a four-pitch walk in the sixth as part of a two-run rally.

“It’s gonna start with Lew,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said pregame. “We’ll give him the first shot. He’s a guy that really has made big strides, and we feel like he deserves that opportunity to see what he can do.”

Time is running out for Brinson to prove he can provide value to his hometown team. The Fort Lauderdale native and Coral Springs High alumnus has a career .187 batting average in the big-leagues and was 0 for 8 this season when he was optioned to the alternate training site on April 11 (a move made to add another pitcher to the roster, not necessarily because of his early production).

Brinson did show signs of progress in 2020 when he was used in a platoon situation in right field with Matt Joyce, hitting .260 against left-handed pitchers. Mattingly also said Brinson showed some signs of progress in spring training as he honed in his mechanics at the plate that Mattingly believes will translate into success against right-handed pitchers as well.

“He has more length in his swing,” Mattingly said, “and can cover more pitches.”

But Brinson was relegated to a bench role to start the season with Corey Dickerson, Marte and Adam Duvall getting the bulk of the starting outfield reps along with Garrett Cooper getting the occasional start in right.

There’s also competition brewing behind him with a wave of outfielders rising in the minor leagues.

Now, that doesn’t mean Brinson is starting every day. Left-handed hitter Magneuris Sierra and super-utility player Jon Berti are also options to get time in center field. A platoon is possible.

Either way, the combination of Brinson, Sierra and Berti does not equal a Starling Marte. No one player who the Marlins could have brought up from within for that matter can independently replace Marte’s production.

Marte is a career .287 hitter with 116 home runs, 455 RBI, 606 runs scored and 252 stolen bases over nine-plus seasons. He was an All-Star in 2016 and won Gold Glove awards in both 2015 and 2016.

Marte was the only player who has started in each of the Marlins’ first 15 games of the season. He’s also the only player to start in center field and batted second in all but one game. Miguel Rojas took over the No. 2 spot in the lineup and went 4 for 4 with a triple, a walk and two runs scored in five plate appearances.

Marte entered Tuesday leading the Marlins with 18 hits and 15 runs scored and had safely reached base in 14 consecutive games. He’s also stellar defensively, having the fourth-highest defensive ranking among center fielders according to FanGraphs.

And as a reminder: Marte has started in center field in 42 of his 45 regular-season games with Miami. From the start of the 2019 season to the Marlins acquiring Marte from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 31, 2020, Miami had used 11 different players in center field during the course of 192 games. Outside of Brinson (58 starts), no one started more than 26 games at the spot during that span.

“With Marte, he’s a guy you can count on to come every single day to the ballpark and prepare for the game,” Rojas said. “That’s a guy who’s a veteran in all aspects. The guy can run, can hit, play defense. We’re going to keep our fingers crossed because we need Marte.”

Mattingly said Marte’s injury “sounds worse than it is,” but the club will have a better understanding of Marte’s timetable to return to the field at the end of the week.

For now, the Marlins will go with who they have available.

Alfaro hurt again

Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro was removed in the fourth inning after reaching base on a fielding error by Orioles second baseman Rio Ruiz with left hamstring soreness.

He had a lengthy discussion with head athletic trainer Gene Basham and Mattingly before being removed. Chad Wallach took over catching duties.

Alfaro had been dealing with lingering tightness in his left hamstring for a couple weeks now, which resulted in him missing four games. He returned to the lineup on April 13 and had recorded five hits over his past four starts, including a 10th-inning walk-off double against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday and a second-inning single on Tuesday.

Should the Marlins have to put Alfaro on the IL — no specifics have been given about his status at this time — they have Sandy Leon, Brian Navarreto and Santiago Chavez as their available catchers at the alternate training site.

Neidert struggles

Nick Neidert, in his third start of the season, gave up five runs on five hits and two walks over three innings of work. This included a pair of solo home runs by Trey Mancini and Freddy Galvis in the third.

Neidert, who now has a 6.75 ERA over 12 innings, threw 70 pitches on Tuesday, 30 of which came in the first inning.