With rosters expanding from 26 to 28 today, the Marlins announced a series of roster moves. They have selected catcher Brian Navarreto and right-hander Luarbert Árias to the roster, in addition to recalling righty Michael Petersen. To open a third roster spot, righty Edward Cabrera has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right elbow sprain. To open 40-man spots for Navarreto and Arias, righties Anthony Bender and Tyler Zuber have been transferred to the 60-day IL. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reported many of these moves prior to the official announcement.
It’s unclear how serious Cabrera’s injury is but it’s an ominous development. An issue with a pitcher’s throwing elbow is always somewhat worrisome and Cabrera has a notable injury history. Shoulder problems kept him under 100 innings in both 2023 and 2024. He had a minor elbow issue in July of this year but managed to avoid the IL at that time.
On the whole, it’s been an exciting breakout season for Cabrera. He has always had the stuff to get strikeouts and ground balls but control has been a problem and the aforementioned injuries also prevented him from building to a full starter’s workload. He came into 2025 with 294 career innings, a 4.32 earned run average, 26% strikeout rate, 48.6% ground ball rate but a 13.3% walk rate. Here in 2025, he has tossed 128 2/3 innings while reducing his walk rate all the way to 7.7%. His strikeout and ground ball rates have stayed strong at 25.8% and 46.4%, respectively. Put it all together and his ERA has come in at 3.57.
Cabrera is still controlled for three seasons beyond this one and has established himself as a legit big league starter. That’s huge for the Marlins though the elbow injury could obviously put a damper on that if it’s serious.
Navarreto, 30, gets back to the big leagues for the first time in years. His major league track record consists of just two games back in 2020. He has been with the Marlins this year on a minor league deal and has slashed .229/.301/.392 in Triple-A. The Fish have Agustín Ramírez and Liam Hicks on the roster but Ramírez will occasionally serve as the designated hitter and Hicks plays a bit of first base. Navarreto can give the club a bit of cover at the catcher position, allowing them to put both Ramírez and Hicks in the lineup while still having a safety net.
Árias, 24, got to make his major league debut with the Marlins earlier this year. He was added to the 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. However, he has struggled badly this year, with a 11 earned runs allowed in his first nine big league innings. He also hasn’t been great in the minors, with a 4.74 ERA, 11.5% strikeout rate and 15% walk rate.
The Marlins were able to pass him through waivers in June but have added him back to the roster today. He still has a full slate of options and doesn’t need to stick on the active roster. Last year, he tossed 68 Triple-A innings with a 3.04 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate. The Marlins would obviously love to figure out a way to get him back to that kind of performance.
Bender was already reported to have suffered a season-ending leg injury, so his transfer to the 60-day IL is no surprise. As for Zuber, he landed on the 15-day IL a couple of days ago due to a lat strain. His current status is unclear but this transfer indicates the Marlins don’t expect him back this season.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images