The Miami Marlins have done a good job competing for a Wild Card spot in the National League despite their limitations.
This is a team with a very limited offensive output and ceiling, yet here they are, currently in possession of the third and final Wild Card spot in the NL as of Thursday afternoon.
They have a 72-67 record and a negative run differential (-34), but their starters are so good that no team would want to face them in the postseason.
If Miami is healthy, they are allowed to dream about making a deep run this year.
The problem, however, is that health is starting to become an issue.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that reigning NL Cy Young Sandy Alcantara was placed on the 15-day injured list with a problem in his right forearm.
There are more problems on the horizon: Jorge Soler is joining him on the shelf.
“And now #Marlins DH Jorge Soler goes on the IL, too, with an oblique strain,” MLB insider Bob Nightengale tweeted.
And now #Marlins DH Jorge Soler goes on the IL, too, with an oblique strain. https://t.co/O4Kc7ObvrU
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) September 6, 2023
Both ailments have the potential to be season-ending for the star players.
Alcantara wasn’t having his best season, but still had a 4.14 ERA in 184.2 frames.
The Soler absence is going to be really, really painful and hard to overcome, though.
He has 35 home runs and a .842 OPS.
No one else on the Marlins has hit more than 20 round-trippers with that uniform, although Jake Burger has 31 between Miami and Chicago (six with the Marlins, 25 with the White Sox).
Soler was one of the few hitters who could provide what the Marlins’ lineup is missing the most: power.
Things could get ugly for the Marlins from this point on.
#Marlins #Continue #Awful #Injury #Luck