The Marlins have placed Ryan Weathers on the 15-day injured list due to a strain in his left index finger. Right-hander Roddery Munoz has been called up from Triple-A and will start today’s game against the Guardians.
An IL trip seemed imminent after Weather made an early exit from his start in last night’s game, as the left-hander lasted into only the third inning on 40 pitches before departing. As manager Skip Schumaker told MLB.com and other media, Weathers “just said he couldn’t feel the ball anymore with his left index finger, so once I heard that, that was enough.” Some more details on Weathers’ status and a possible recovery timeline could be available when Schumaker meets with reporters earlier today, though a lack of feeling in the finger might hint at some kind of nerve issue.
It was just two days ago that MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald profiled Weathers’ strong start to the season, highlighting how the former top prospect has enjoyed a breakout in his fourth MLB campaign. Even with Friday’s abbreviated start on his record, Weathers still has a 3.55 ERA and an excellent 51.5% grounder rate over 71 innings and 13 starts for Miami this year. A .272 BABIP has helped limit the damage since Weathers allows a lot of hard contact, yet his 6.7% walk rate is above the league average — a major improvement given how control problems plagued the southpaw earlier in his MLB career.
Beyond just the solid results, Weathers’ greatest asset has probably been simply his availability, but he has now fallen prey to the injury bug that has ravaged the Marlins’ rotation. Every member of Miami’s starting five has now been on the IL or is currently on the IL, as Weathers joins Eury Perez and Sandy Alcantara (both gone for the season due to Tommy John surgeries), Edward Cabrera (10-day IL due to shoulder impingement) and Sixto Sanchez (on the 10-day shoulder inflammation).
Munoz’s promotion was already in the works for today, as he was stepping in for Sanchez’s spot in the rotation. An off-day on Monday will give the Marlins a bit of time to reset, but now yet another depth arm will be needed to slot in behind Jesus Luzardo, Trevor Rogers, Braxton Garrett, and Munoz. The recently-acquired Shaun Anderson is probably likeliest to be the next man up, and while he has plenty of starting experience in the minors, Anderson’s last big league start came in 2019. Max Meyer excelled in his brief time on the MLB roster earlier this season, but since the Marlins are trying to manage Meyer’s innings and aren’t trying to win in 2024 anyway, the team isn’t likely to disrupt their plan for Meyer’s development unless circumstances get really dire with the rotation.