WASHINGTON — As he too often has this season, Don Mattingly waited and listened while a Miami Marlins spokesperson listed off the team’s injury report before he started to field questions for his virtual press conference Monday.
There were minor tidbits — like the ongoing recoveries of Brian Anderson, Elieser Hernandez and Cody Poteet — and then two big pieces of information to punctuate the rundown: Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Garrett Cooper, after sustaining a pair of scary left arm injuries Sunday in Philadelphia, were going on the injury report.
“Other than all that good news...” Mattingly quipped before diving into the implications and fallout from an altogether nightmarish weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies. “That whole little city trip into Philly did not go well. ... It was just a lot yesterday.”
It was the sort of weekend that could finally derail this season and it kept bleeding into Monday. Outfielder Jesus Sanchez landed on the COVID-related IL on Friday. Starting pitcher Pablo Lopez went on the IL with a right rotator cuff strain Saturday. The Marlins lost twice Sunday, and lost Chisholm and Cooper to injuries. On Monday, they suffered their worst loss of the season, getting blown out 18-1 by the Nationals in Washington.
Pitcher Ross Detwiler gave up eight runs and four homers without getting an out in the second inning. The Nationals hit six home runs total, including one off catcher Sandy Leon in the bottom of the seventh. Washington starting pitcher Jon Lester completed seven innings for the first time all year, held Miami to six hits and no runs before exiting, and blasted a fifth-inning homer off pitcher David Hess to send an already jubilant crowd of 15,283 at Nationals Park into hysterics.
The loss, their most lopsided of the season, drops the Marlins (40-53) to a season-worst 14 games below .500 and gives them a negative run differential for the first time all season. Fourth-place Washington (44-49) now has a 4 1/2-game lead on Miami.
While they avoided the potential worst-case scenarios for Chisholm and Cooper, the Marlins will now be without two of their best hitters until at least July 29 as they desperately try to fight back into contention by the July 30 trade deadline.
Miami placed both on the 10-day injured list Monday before the Marlins even got back MRI results. Both appeared to be in serious pain when they left the field at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday and there were legitimate reasons to fear long-term absences.
Chisholm’s left arm was hanging limp after he landed awkwardly on it while trying to make a diving catch against superstar outfielder Bryce Harper in the bottom of the first. Cooper vigorously shook his arm after Phillies outfielder Travis Jankowski ran into it while Cooper tried to extend for a catch in the base path, and the same sort of play led to Tommy John surgery for Philadelphia first baseman Rhys Hoskins last year.
The Marlins took preliminary X-rays on Chisholm’s shoulder Sunday and they came back negative, but the team waited until Monday to take an MRI on Cooper’s elbow.
“It didn’t sound good, either guy, quite honestly, but obviously you want to wait for the results to be able to verify everything,” Mattingly said before the team got back results. “Sounded like Jazz was sore this morning and Coop was sore — kind of what we expected from both guys the way things went down. You didn’t expect them to wake up today going, I feel pretty good all of a sudden. I think we expected them both to be sore. They both were.”
The infielders both should avoid any long-term absences or surgery, too. They probably won’t be back until it’s too late for Miami, though.
With the two injuries, the Marlins called up outfielder Lewis Brinson and relief pitcher Andrew Bellatti on Monday. Brinson, a career .192 hitter, immediately slotted into the starting lineup for Cooper, playing left field and batting seventh. Utility infielder Joe Panik, who was batting .143 in 13 games with the the Marlins, took over Chisholm’s spot at second base, batting sixth.
Cooper was batting .284, and Chisholm was one of only 12 players in the Majors with at least 11 homers and 11 steals, and a contender for an MLB Rookie of the Year Award.
With Chisholm and Cooper now headed to the IL, Miami has placed four key contributors on the IL in the last four days. On Friday, the Marlins put rookie outfielder Jesus Sanchez on the COVID-related IL, then they put starting pitcher Pablo Lopez on the IL with a right rotator cuff strain Saturday.
Sanchez had been an everyday starter in the outfield for Miami since getting called up in June, and Lopez has a 3.03 ERA and been part of the Marlins’ “Big 3” of front-line starters. Chisholm has started nearly every game this season at second base, typically batting leadoff, and Cooper is a regular contributor and frequent No. 3 hitter for Miami.
