Evaluating the state of Miami's rotation amidst numerous injuries

MIAMI -- Saturday’s 9-0 Marlins loss to the Mariners at loanDepot park didn’t just snap a stretch of three straight walk-off victories. Miami’s rotation took yet another blow, as there stands a very real possibility that a seventh starter lands on the injured list.

What’s going on?
Miami has scratched left-handers Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett on consecutive days, putting the rotation in flux. This isn’t the first time they both have been sidelined at the same time, but back then, the club had the services of lefty Ryan Weathers (left index finger strain) and righties Edward Cabrera (right shoulder impingement) and Sixto Sánchez (right shoulder inflammation).

Luzardo and Garrett had provided stability to the pitching staff despite inconsistent results. Luzardo will be out anywhere from 4-6 weeks, while Garrett’s status is not yet known as he undergoes further evaluation. This is the third arm-related setback for Garrett this year, following a left shoulder impingement and a “dead arm.”

“He's a Major League pitcher, so we plan on whoever is starting that day, plan on using him and trying to win that game,” manager Skip Schumaker said of the club’s mentality trying to piece together a staff. “We have a lot of guys injured. We're not the only team that has an injured rotation. [We’re] probably going to lean on that bullpen as much as we can. But I also don't want to crush them. So we've got to get some sort of length out of the starters.

“You know, three, four innings isn't usually ideal, so we've got to figure out a way to get in the fifth and sixth inning. [It’s] kind of [like] in the beginning of the season, where we had some short starts really hurting our bullpen. We don't want to get back into that. So we’ve got to figure out how to get five and change at least to give it to our really good bullpen.”

Who’s on the mend?
Cabrera began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Jacksonville on Wednesday, allowing two runs (one earned) with four strikeouts and one walk across three innings. More importantly, he threw 49 pitches. Cabrera will toe the rubber again on Tuesday, extending to four frames or 60 pitches. Starting pitchers are built up to 90 pitches or so, which would mean Cabrera likely has two or three rehab starts to go.

Last week in New York, Schumaker said the Marlins didn’t intend on building up righty Bryan Hoeing, who is rehabbing from a left hamstring strain, to start. That could change due to all of the injuries. After needing 36 pitches to record five outs on Thursday, Hoeing will try to complete three innings on Tuesday for the Jumbo Shrimp.

Sánchez has begun throwing, but he has not done so in game action. Weathers hasn’t started to throw, and he soon will be reevaluated to determine whether he can begin a program.

Who’s in the immediate mix?
Postgame Saturday, Schumaker announced righty Kyle Tyler will start in place of Garrett on Sunday.

Though Tyler will be making his first MLB start in just his ninth outing while facing his former organization, he has posted a 2.80 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 10 games (eight starts) for Triple-A Jacksonville this season. The last time the 27-year-old appeared in the big leagues was on April 26 for a two-inning relief outing.

With no off-days until July 1, the Marlins just completed Day 2 of 10 straight games without a break in the schedule. With that in mind, rolling with a bullpen game for an already overworked relief corps would’ve been suboptimal.

Rookie Roddery Muñoz and veteran Yonny Chirinos have joined the rotation with Weathers and Sánchez on the injured list. Righty Shaun Anderson pitched in place of Luzardo on Saturday, and his second start didn’t go much better than the first. He was chased in a four-run fourth, having given up six runs (five earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

“I was ecstatic when I found out I was coming to Miami,” Anderson said. “I've been wanting to play for my hometown team for a really long time, and that's what also is really frustrating, because I want to get rolling and get rolling with the Marlins. It's baseball. I've been moving around my whole career, and going back down to Jacksonville, and working on some stuff with the guys down there, and I was looking forward to the start today, and getting things rolling again. [I] felt really good out the gate and just some plays didn't go my way.”