Marlins Get Rotation Reinforcements for Tonight's Series Opener

The Miami Marlins are adding another major league starter to their rotation

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins have been decimated by injuries to their rotation, with four different starting pitchers unavailable to open the season (and two, Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez, not going to return in 2024).

But things are starting to look up.

Edward Cabrera, slowed by a shoulder issue in spring training, has been activated and is the scheduled starter for tonight's series opener against the San Francisco Giants.

Cabrera's completed three rehab starts for AAA Jacksonville, each one longer than the one before. After going three innings against Gwinnett (Atlanta Braves) on 3/31, he went four innings against Durham (Tampa Bay Rays) on 4/5 and then 5.2 against Charlotte (Chicago White Sox) last week.

In the three outings, Cabrera allowed a combined two runs (one earned) on eleven hits and eight walks in 12.2 innings, striking out twelve. The walks were an issue early, with four in three innings against Gwinnett and three in four innings against Durham. The most recent start against Charlotte was his best, with only one unearned run on five hits and one walk in 5.2 innings while striking out nine.

After that last outing, the organization seemed to indicate that they would prefer to give Cabrera one more start before bringing him back to the major league level, but other concerns prevented Miami from waiting any longer. Monday's announced starter A.J. Puk has been dealing with an illness, the same one that felled Tim Anderson over the weekend, and cannot pitch tonight.

So Cabrera's is set to be activated and will be starting tonight, with Puk moved to Wednesday's series finale. The team will need to make a roster move to activate Cabrera - it's possible that Vidal Bruján's knee discomfort that forced him from Sunday's game may result in an IL stint, or a current starter may get removed from the active roster to make space.