Marlins place Gordon on DL, reinstate Prado
All-Star could return as early as July 28; versatile veteran moves to second, with McGehee at third
PHILADELPHIA -- Dee Gordon, the Marlins' All-Star second baseman and catalyst at the top of the order, is going on the disabled list with a dislocated left thumb. The club announced the transaction on Friday, and in a corresponding move, reinstated Martin Prado from the DL.
With Gordon out, Prado is switching from third base to second, and Casey McGehee will handle third base.
"We felt like, with Martin coming back, the easiest transition would be to put Dee on the DL, knowing that he's going to take a little time to build up the strength in that thumb," Miami manager Dan Jennings said.
Gordon, batting .338, leads the Majors with 122 hits, and he is second in the National League with 33 stolen bases.
The earliest Gordon could be reinstated is July 28, when Miami is at home against the Nationals. The Marlins are hopeful their All-Star second baseman will be back about that time.
Video: 2015 ASG: Gordon introduced at All-Star Game
"You can speculate, but you really don't know," Jennings said. "We just felt like until he builds that strength up, it makes more sense to run the DL right now, because we were already at day six."
Voted in by the fans as the starting NL second baseman, Gordon dislocated his thumb while sliding headfirst into first base on July 11, three days before the All-Star Game.
Initially, the Marlins were hopeful Gordon could avoid going on the DL. But after re-evaluating his thumb, it was determined the stint was necessary.
"You hate it for Dee, because he's had such a great first half," Jennings said. "Just his energy, when he's around. He lifts everyone up. Hopefully this is very short-lived and it's a 15-day DL and he can start to swing some at the end of that time and be back as quickly as possible."
Losing Gordon until the end of the month is a blow, but the Marlins are getting some relief with the return of Prado, who sprained his right shoulder stumbling over first base against the Rockies on June 14.
Video: COL@MIA: Prado leaves game with injury after tumble
Prado is batting .272 with four homers and 24 RBIs. Acquired from the Yankees in the offseason to be the everyday third baseman, Prado has played 245 MLB games at second base, including 17 with the Yankees in 2014. He played the position in a rehab-assignment game on Wednesday for Class A Jupiter.
"That's one of the values of having a guy like Martin, he's played so many spots -- left field, third base, second base," Jennings said. "He's played them all well. I talked to him. I said, 'Listen, we're going to lose Dee for this amount of time.' Right away, he said, 'I'm good. I got second base.' It speaks volumes about him."