Here’s what happened to Marlins’ starting pitching riches. And Cueto, Eury Perez updates

We were supposed to be smack in the middle of the golden era for the Marlins’ starting rotation, a period when the organization seemed on track to possess more quality starting pitchers than they would know what to do with.

Instead, because of (mostly) injuries, underperformance and trades, the Marlins find themselves in the bottom half of baseball in starting pitching ERA (17th at 4.75) and over-reliant on their bullpen.

Only Tampa Bay has needed their relievers to pitch more innings than the Marlins.

Edward Cabrera has made it past five innings only once in seven starts, and that outing ended after six innings.

What’s more, Marlins starting pitchers have permitted 253 base runners in 176 1/3 innings.

So whatever happened to the abundance of riches?

Three top prospects — Sixto Sanchez, Max Meyer and Jake Eder — remain out with injuries. Two members of the current rotation — Johnny Cueto and Trevor Rogers - remain sidelined indefinitely.

Two were traded — one (Pablo Lopez) for Luis Arraez in a deal that has worked out for the Marlins, and another (Zac Gallen) in a trade for Jazz Chisholm Jr. that doesn’t look as good for Miami as it did a year ago.

Gallen has a sterling 3.04 ERA in 82 starts for Arizona and throttled the Marlins for a third time Monday.

Chisholm, who is the Marlins’ primary leadoff hitter against right-handed pitching, has seen his on-base percentage plummet to .277, and his 50 strikeouts are second most in baseball.

Jesus Luzardo has been a quality starter. But Cabrera and Braxton Garrett have had inconsistent starts, limiting their ability to pitch deep into games.

Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 National League Cy Young winner, struggled early in the season before getting back on track Sunday in Chicago.

Meanwhile, the Marlins have grown comfortable with the notion of promoting top pitching prospect Eury Perez in the next few weeks, according to a source.

Perez remained with Double A Pensacola on Tuesday morning, but the team was giving consideration to promoting him to Triple A Jacksonville after a dominant four-start, 22-inning stretch at Pensacola that included 30 strikeouts, just eight hits, five walks and three runs allowed.

There also is growing sentiment inside the organization for Perez to join the Marlins at some point in May or June. Two options seem to be most likely: 1). Perez joins the rotation and remains there through the end of the season. 2). He makes a few starts, is replaced by Cueto or Rogers when either gets healthy, and then goes back to Triple A for a time.

Here’s an update on where some of the other Marlins’ starting pitchers stand:

▪ Cueto — who had been sidelined since his first start in April with a biceps injury — left Saturday’s rehab start for Triple A Jacksonville when he fell awkwardly and sprained his ankle while trying to cover first base. He’s now back in Jupiter recovering.

Before that, he was shelled for six runs on eight hits and zero strikeouts in 2 1 /3 innings of that first rehab start in Jacksonville.

His velocity is not where it needs to be, and he could end up missing more time. One issue, according to a team source, is that he didn’t throw enough in the offseason; whether that would have reduced the chance of a biceps injury is speculative.

▪ Rogers, who hasn’t pitched since his fourth start of the season on April 19, remains out indefinitely with a forearm injury. He’s with the Marlins on this ongoing road trip and playing catch up to 90 feet.

An MRI didn’t show any significant tear, but forearm strains sometimes can be precursor to the injury that eventually results in Tommy John surgery. The Marlins hope that’s not the case with Rogers.

▪ Other injured pitchers: Sanchez, who hasn’t pitched since 2020, experienced more shoulder soreness last week. And while the Marlins still hold out hope that he could pitch in minor league games in August or September, the organization is no longer counting on him in their long-term plans.

Meyer will miss the season after Tommy John surgery, and there are mixed views internally about whether he’s better suited for starting or relieving. And Eder - who missed last season after Tommy John surgery - has missed the first six weeks recovering from a spring training foot injury; he’s expected to make his first minor-league start in June.

Right-hander Zach McCambley remains out with elbow soreness.

▪ Luzardo: He has been pretty good (3.66 ERA in seven starts), but not quite as good as last season, when he had a 3.32 ERA in 18 starts.

Last season, Luzardo allowed 104 base-runners in 100 innings; this season, it’s 55 in 39.

“He’s one of our best pitchers, and he hasn’t shown what he’s capable of yet,” manager Skip Schumaker said last week. “He can be one of the top pitchers in the league.”

▪ Garrett, who had a 3.58 ERA in 17 starts last season, has a 5.97 ERA in seven appearances and six starts. He has allowed 46 hits in 31 2/3 innings.

▪ Cabrera, who had a 3.01 ERA in 14 starts last season, is at 4.78 through seven this season. Last season, he walked 33 in 71 2/3 innings. This season, he already has walked a league-high 22 in 36 innings.

▪ Marlins top 20 prospects in mlb.com’s rankings: Aside from Perez (rated first among all prospects), none seem close to helping on the big-league level.

Injuries have shelved Meyer (third), Eder (fifth) and Sanchez (11th).

Lefty Dax Fulton (fourth) is off to a slow start at Double A Pensacola (1-4, 5.27 ERA).

Right-hander Jacob Miller (eighth) is a ways away; he had a 5.73 ERA in five starts at Single A Jupiter. He was the Marlins’ second-round pick in 2002.

“He’s a hard-worker, great character guy,” Hector Crespo, Marlins’ director of minor league operations, said. “A unique competitor, three-pitch guy who can locate his fastball. Has a plus slider and his changeup is coming around.”

Right-hander Karson Milbrant (rated 16th among all Marlins prospects) — is 2-2 with a 5.87 ERA at Single A Jupiter — and isn’t close.

Lefty Patrick Monteverde (30th on MLB’s Marlins prospect list) doesn’t have dominant stuff but could get consideration for a promotion if he continues his brilliant work at Double A. Montverde has a 1.14 ERA in five starts, with 44 strikeouts and just 14 hits yielded in 31 2/3 innings.

And right-hander Evan Fitterer (the Marlins’ 27th best overall prospect) had a 1.69 ERA in five starts for Pensacola and Class A Beloit. He’s one to keep an eye on.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Schumaker gave a detailed and reasonable explanation for switching National League batting leader Luis Arraez from hitting leadoff in seven games early in the season to batting third or fourth more recently.

“I like Arraez [hitting] with somebody on base and we hope somebody gets on base in front of him,” Schumaker said. “That was the thought behind it. I don’t like swing and miss [hitters] in RBI situations. Luis provides the opposite of swing and miss.”

To start the season, Schumaker had the left-handed Arraez bat lead off, followed by two right-handed hitters (Jean Segura and Garrett Cooper) and then the left-handed Chisholm and the right-handed Soler.

The thinking there?

“Initially, I wanted Jazz in the four hole, with Arraez at the top, and I wanted two righties in between because it makes it more challenging to bring a lefty in because you will have to face a Soler or Cooper in between to get to Jazz.”

Schumaker asked the Marlins’ analytics team to “look at how many extra at bats there would be [if he hit in] the three hole [instead of cleanup] and it’s not a very big number of at bats at the end of the year if you keep him in the four hole. Obviously we want our best hitter getting the most at bats. If one of those guys gets on, I like Arraez with somebody on base.”

One issue with the top of the lineup has been Segura’s struggles. His -1.4 WAR (wins among replacement) is among the worst in baseball.

▪ The Marlins remain hopeful that Peyton Burdick can at least become a big-league backup, if not more. But there’s one glaring issue that he must address.

“It’s the strikeout rate,” Schumaker said. “He’s got to cut down. He knows that. There’s so much talent in there if we can somehow figure out a way to cut down the strikeout rate. This guy is a really, really good player, a Harrison Bader-type of player, which is extremely valuable in this league especially if you play a good center field.

“He’s going to play while he’s up here. We’ve got a string of lefties we’re going to face. You kind of make your own bed in this game. If he can help us win, he will play.”

Burdick hit .293 with 10 homers and 24 RBI in 25 games at Jacksonville to open the season but had 44 strikeouts in 99 at-bats. He’s 0 for 4 for the Marlins since being promoted, with two strikeouts.

▪ Jesus Sanchez seems to have turned a corner; he’s up to .267 after going 9 for his last 22.

“He changed up his hands, which has been good,” Schumaker said. “Shorter moves, which has really helped him. He’s a strong kid. Lot of movement made a lot of room for error. Little movement made for little room for error and that’s what you’re seeing right now. And he’s getting a little more playing time.”

▪ JJ Bleday is off to a good start for Oakland (.362, two homers in 22 at-bats), but left-hander A.J. Puk (3-1, 3.29 ERA, five saves) has pitched well for Miami.

So that trade, for now, is looking good for both teams.

The Marlins had doubts about Bleday. Don Mattingly pointed out last year that Bleday was late on several hittable pitches - a worrisome trend.

Herald senior baseball correspondent Craig Mish hosts Newswire from 11 a.m. to noon weekdays on Sportsgrid. Follow him on Twitter at @CraigMish. Follow Barry Jackson at @flasportsbuzz