Setback for Sixto; good news for Cabrera 

PITTSBURGH -- As the Marlins find their starting-pitching depth tested, two of MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects -- Sixto Sánchez (No. 12 overall) and Edward Cabrera (No. 54) -- appear to be trending in different directions.

Sánchez, who recently experienced some slight discomfort during his throwing program in between bullpen sessions, was shut down for a few days as a precautionary measure.

"There has to be some concern, right?" pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said Saturday. "I have watched his bullpens, I've watched his throwing program, some of the things that he was doing before they got better. But there's still a stall in his program. I'm not going to tell you he's hurt, but I'm just going to tell you it's not time to move forward and press on the pedal and be thinking about rehab outings. It's not there."

Entering the season, the 22-year-old right-hander projected to be on the Opening Day roster. Sánchez was one of the favorites for National League Rookie of the Year after recording a 132 ERA+ in seven regular-season starts in 2020.

But a couple of delays -- a visa issue, then a COVID-19 false positive -- pushed back his arrival to camp. Sánchez played catchup during Spring Training, and it was during a simulated game on March 31 to build up his pitch count in preparation of joining the ballclub that he experienced right shoulder inflammation.

Cabrera, meanwhile, threw 35 pitches in an extended spring game earlier in the week. He arrived to spring camp with an inflamed nerve in his right biceps, something the organization was aware of.

The 23-year-old right-hander hasn't pitched above the Double-A level, starting eight games there in 2019. Without a Minor League season in 2020, he participated in the alternate training site and was on the taxi squad. Had it not been for a minor arm issue, he likely would've debuted.

"Cabrera just got done throwing a couple innings, and he's going to move to three and that natural progression in trying to get him built up," Stottlemyre said. "With that being said, he hasn't pitched. He pitched a month in Double-A or whatever, so this guy needs some innings, too. If he keeps doing some good things, then certainly his name will come up in a discussion to come up and help us when that time is right."

Here are some highlights from Stottlemyre's 25 minutes speaking over Zoom:

On the balance of filling out the rotation with prospects

"We've been very sensitive into the timing of when those guys are ready. We certainly don't want to bring a younger guy up when they're not capable, or when they're not ready to go through what they're going to go through here. We talked last night about going outside the organization and seeing what's available and out there. And that's not my job, but they know how [Don Mattingly] and I feel in trying to hold this thing together and not bring the wrong guy up to where he can't handle some things and we do some long-term damage. I know that [assistant general manager] Dan [Greenlee] and [GM] Kim [Ng], and I'm sure they're talking with [CEO] Derek [Jeter], they're going to be exploring some other options to try to lengthen and create some depth there to try to help us get through these patches right now. You're probably going to see some other guys come up in the very near future that are going to try to help us patch things together."

On the possibility of MLB cracking down on foreign substances

"Our guys are scared of the consequences. In Spring Training when I talked to them, sat down with Kim, she had asked me to have a conversation with our pitchers and the consequences that MLB had laid out for us. Spooked our guys for any of them that may have come from other organizations and used it before. It's scared our guys away from using it."