The Marlins placed right-hander Sixto Sanchez on the 15-day injured list today (retroactive to June 1), with right-hander Emmanuel Ramirez was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move. Sanchez is dealing with inflammation in his throwing shoulder, and something seemed awry when his velocity was significantly down in his start against the Rangers on Friday.
Given how multiple shoulder surgeries (amidst other injuries) kept Sanchez from just a single inning of minor league ball from 2021-23, it isn’t a good sign that the former top prospect is again dealing with any type of shoulder problem, even if some inflammation or soreness might be expected given Sanchez’s long layoff. The righty made his return to the big leagues this season and has a 6.06 ERA over 35 2/3 innings for Miami, starting seven of his 14 appearances. While Sanchez has always been more of a grounder specialist than a strikeout artist, Sanchez has struck out only 10.5% of batters faced this season.
More from around the NL East…
- Brandon Marsh is “day to day…at this point” with a right hamstring strain, as Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer) after Marsh was removed from tonight’s game. In the eighth inning, Marsh was rounding second base after a Nick Castellanos single, but seemed to tweak his hamstring and immediately asked for a trainer. One of the many Phillies players enjoying a strong season, Marsh is hitting .265/.344/.426 over 186 plate appearances, playing primarily as the regular left fielder against right-handed pitching, and also bouncing around to the other two outfield spots when needed. Philadelphia has a pair of upcoming off-days on Thursday and Friday, so the club might try to get by without Marsh until that break in the hopes that he can avoid the injured list.
- Francisco Alvarez could possibly be making a quicker return than expected from thumb surgery, as The Athletic’s Will Sammon (X link) writes that “there’s a distinct possibility” Alvarez could be part of the Mets’ roster for the pair of games with the Phillies in London on June 8-9. The catcher was given a recovery timeline of 6-8 weeks after he underwent the surgery on April 23, though since Alvarez has started a minor league rehab assignment, the Mets are hopeful that he might make it back right at the low end of that initial progression.
- In other Mets injury news, the team called up Shintaro Fujinami in mid-May and placed him on the Major League 15-day injured list, a procedural move that MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo explains was made so Fujinami could eventually be moved to the 60-day IL, thus freeing up a 40-man roster spot. Fujinami hasn’t been pitched for a month due to a shoulder strain, and the updated 6-8 week timeline means that he’ll likely be out of action until July. New York signed Fujinami to a one-year, $3.35MM deal in February, coming off his MLB debut season that saw him post a 7.18 ERA across 79 innings with the A’s and Orioles. Despite that big ERA, the hard-throwing Fujinami pitched better as the season went on, leading the Mets to make a small investment in his potential as a bullpen arm.
- The Braves have assigned David Fletcher from Triple-A Gwinnett to Double-A Mississippi, the team announced. While technically a demotion, the Mississippi affiliate’s official X feed listed Fletcher as an infielder and right-handed pitcher, indicating that this move could be a way of giving Fletcher more runway to explore his new career path as a knuckleballer. The Athletic’s David O’Brien recently detailed how Fletcher has been experimenting with a knuckler, culminating in a start last Wednesday when he limited the Orioles’ Triple-A squad to two runs over five innings. Fletcher (who recently celebrated his 30th birthday) is still owed at least roughly $12MM through the end of the 2025 season, as per the five-year, $26MM extension he signed with the Angels in April 2021. His production as an infielder has declined sharply since signing that deal, and the Braves acquired him as part of a mutual salary dump of trade last December. Fletcher is also under investigation from the league in regards to allegations of non-baseball bets placed with an illegal bookmaker.