Marlins Return Shortstop from Injured List With a Decision to Make
The Miami Marlins are getting a little bit healthier in their lineup today.
Per various reports, the Marlins are activating shortstop Tim Anderson from the 10-day injured list for tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Anderson’s been unavailable since May 11th due to tightness in his lower back.
The shortstop spent two games rehabbing with Triple-A Jacksonville over the weekend, going a combined 4-9 with a homer, five runs, and two RBIs across the two matchups with the Nashville Sounds.
Those four hits represent more offensive production than the shortstop had in the month of May at the major league level, where he went 3-27 with six strikeouts and one run scored. The former batting champ has struggled offensively in his first year with Miami, batting just .197 with a .456 OPS that’s the third-lowest figure for any hitter with 100 plate appearances in the majors this season.
Anderson’s activation prompts a question of playing time for one of Miami’s breakout players in the month of May, infielder Vidal Bruján. A former top prospect for the Tampa Bay Rays that was acquired via trade this offseason, Bruján has seized on the opportunity for regular playing time; he’s started every game at shortstop in Anderson’s absence and is batting .290/.353/.452 with eight runs scored in those nine games.
With Otto Lopez seemingly breaking out after taking over the starting role at second base with the trade of Luis Arraez (Lopez is batting .324/.381/.568 with five runs and eight RBI since Arraez was traded) and Jake Burger back from the injured list, playing time could be at a premium for the speedy utilityman Bruján if Anderson is restored to an everyday role.
Should he be?
Anderson’s making $5M this season on a one-year deal he signed late in the offseason as Miami’s only major league free agency addition. His bat hasn’t done enough to warrant remaining in the starting spot for the rest of the season, while his defense has been nothing more than average at best. (Anderson’s put up zero Outs Above Average in his 282 innings at shortstop, while Bruján is also at zero through his 153 innings at shortstop).
The right thing to do from a purely baseball perspective is to leave Bruján as the starter at shortstop and let Anderson return as a bench piece and infield backup at both second base and shortstop, inserting him in the lineup when Bruján moves to another position for the day.
Is that what manager Skip Schumaker and president of baseball operations Peter Bendix will do? That remains to be seen.
Managing Editor for Blackerby Media, covering the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins Also: Senior Baseball Writer for Auburn Daily, member of both the National College Baseball Writers Association and Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (where he won the 2023 Prospects, Minors, & College Writer of the Year award)