Once again, the Miami Marlins have announced another one of their players have been sent to the disabled list. On Friday, Odrisamer Despaigne was placed on the 10-day DL with a right forearm strain, and right-hander Nick Wittgren was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans. It was the second consecutive day the team placed a relief pitcher on the shelf with an injury as Chris O’Grady suffered a shoulder strain and was also shelved for 10 days.
For those of you playing at home, that makes nine Marlins players who are currently dealing with injuries. The Marlins are 5-14 this season and sit at the bottom of the National League East, nine games behind the New York Mets.
“It’s good to get Nick back,” manager Don Mattingly said. “We felt like we’d get him back at some point. We were trying to get him built to multiple innings down there, and were taking that slow. But, obviously, with Odrisamer going down last night, he was really the guy.”
Per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, Nick Wittgren projects to help bridge innings from the starter to the Marlins’ late relief and throw multiple innings. His time in the Majors last season with the Marlins should help a depleted bullpen that has been abused so far this year.
Despaigne had been the team’s most versatile pitcher so far this season, moving in and out of the rotation. The transaction was expected after Despaigne was replaced in the sixth inning of Miami’s 12-3 loss on Thursday to the Brewers at Miller Park.
It seems what has been bad so far for the Marlins has now gotten worse. There are other options in the minor league system. Sandy Alcantara could be recalled from Triple-A New Orleans soon. Adam Conley was part of the rotation last year and could receive another callup if there are more injuries.
Now the focus is on Nick Wittgren to help ease the pain of the first three weeks of the MLB season. The 26-year-old Wittgren opened the season at New Orleans after he was building up in Spring Training from surgery to remove a bone chip from his throwing elbow last September.
“We brought him slowly, because we wanted to build him slowly, from the medical department,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, with the surgery, and the rehab all winter, really there were no issues all the spring. It was a matter of building him up. There’s no days in there you had to stop him or shut him down. We feel like he can compete here.”
In seven appearances at New Orleans, Wittgren has had his struggles, posting a 10.13 ERA in 5 1/3 innings, including two home runs.