Marlins put Sánchez on 15-day IL with shoulder inflammation

MIAMI -- The Marlins placed right-hander Sixto Sánchez on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation on Sunday morning.

In Friday’s 8-2 win over the Rangers at loanDepot park, Sánchez’s velocity was down across the board from his season averages: changeup (2.5 mph), four-seamer (4.0 mph) and cutter (3.7 mph). Manager Skip Schumaker pulled Sánchez after just 53 pitches, when the first two batters collected hits in the fifth.

“I just felt like from the get-go it was 87 mph again,” Schumaker said following Friday’s game. “It's OK if it's 87 if he's used to throwing like 89 to 90. But when you have flashing 95-96, and then you are throwing 87, I just want to make sure everything's OK and he's not trying to get through something and just being up front with us, as well.”

Schumaker and Sánchez reconnected on Saturday and the right-hander shared that he felt a bit “stuck” in the bullpen prior to his start. According to Schumaker, that feeling was lingering in the back of Sánchez’s mind and the Marlins decided it was best to address the situation now.

“When you feel something in there, you tend to back off a little bit,” Schumaker said. “We don’t want him to make this small thing into a big thing. We want him to have the ability to feel like he can just let it go without feeling like he’s going to get hurt or more hurt.

“We’ve got to figure out exactly the right training and shoulder program to put together for him,” Schumaker added. “I think our staff has done a really good job of identifying some things. Now it’s just up to him to get after it in the weight room and in the training room as soon as that inflammation is knocked out.”

The 25-year-old Sánchez didn’t pitch in the Majors from 2021-23 because of countless setbacks and two shoulder surgeries. During that span, he made a one-inning rehab appearance for Double-A Pensacola on Sept. 12, 2023, but experienced discomfort and was shut down.

Sánchez, who started the season in the bullpen, moved to the rotation seeking better results than he had as a reliever (6.14 ERA in seven outings) and also out of necessity with left-handers Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett, as well as right-hander Edward Cabrera, sidelined. He is 3 1/3 innings shy of his career mark (39 IP) set during the 2020 COVID-affected season.

“I'm feeling good,” Sánchez said via interpreter Will Nadal after Friday’s game. “I think the arm feels good. I think it could be something mental. But I'm trying to block that out of my head and just make sure that I'm going out there and trying to prepare as best as I can.”

With off-days on Monday and Thursday, the Marlins can go with a four-man rotation over the next week. Afterward, right-hander Roddery Muñoz is an option to be recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville to fill in for Sánchez since Cabrera hasn’t progressed past playing catch.