Marlins week in review: As injury bug hits, Miami needs these players to step up

Just a year ago, a rash of injuries played a big part in the Miami Marlins struggling in the month of May. Miami went just 7-19 in May that year, falling eight games under .500 overall and never being able to recover after that.

Well, it’s May again and the Marlins once again have gotten a visit from the injury bug.

Six players from their Opening Day roster are on the injured list: Starting pitchers Trevor Rogers (left biceps) and Johnny Cueto), high-leverage relievers A.J. Puk (left elbow nerve inflammation) and JT Chargois (right oblique) and outfielders Avisail Garcia (back tightness) and Jesus Sanchez (right hamstring strain). A seventh, first baseman Garrett Cooper, just returned from a two-week stint on the injured list with an inner ear infection. The status of an eighth in center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (turf toe) is in question pending his visit with a specialist on Monday.

Miami is 4-8 so far this month and 20-21 overall on the season with 15 games left until the calendar flips to June. That schedule: Three home games against the Washington Nationals, a three-city road trip through the San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels and the first two games of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. The Angels are the only team in that group that has a winning record.

The Marlins need to take advantage of this schedule stretch. To do so with so many main players sidelined, they need players to step up all around.

In the rotation, they need Sandy Alcantara to continue to return to form and back-end starters Braxton Garrett and top prospect Eury Perez to step up.

In the bullpen, Dylan Floro will likely take over as primary closer in Puk’s absence. Tanner Scott, Matt Barnes and Steven Okert will be used more in high-leverage situations. Chargois is nearing a return, too, so he’ll add back some quality depth.

In the outfield, Bryan De La Cruz, Peyton Burdick and Garrett Hampson will get more run with Sanchez (and potentially Chisholm) sidelined.

Takeaways from Eury Perez’s MLB debut

There was a lot to like about Eury Perez’s MLB debut on Friday.

The poise on the mound. The unwavering confidence.

The 99 mph fastball and 16 swings and misses were great, too.

Oh, and don’t forget, Perez just turned 20 not even a month ago.

From an individual standpoint, the outing went about as good as it could for Perez, ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline and the youngest pitcher in Marlins history.

That said, how the Marlins handle him moving forward will be interesting to watch develop. Perez has never pitched past the sixth inning in his two-plus years of pro ball. He only went 4 2/3 innings on Friday. Perez has never thrown more than 90 pitches in a game, either. He got to 88 on Friday before being taken out of the game. Perez has also pitched on regular, four-day rest twice.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said Perez will likely be capped around the 100-pitch mark in any given start. General manager Kim Ng said a group from the front office and the coaching staff will monitor Perez as the season progresses to make sure each decision is in his best interest.

Game recaps from past two weeks

Note: Because there was no Marlins week in review last week, we are included the game recaps from each of the past two weeks in this edition

▪ May 2 — Braves 6, Marlins 0: Sandy Alcantara only made it through five innings and the Miami offense had no answer for the Braves’ Bryce Elder.

▪ May 3 — Braves 14, Marlins 6: Atlanta scored seven runs against Garrett in the second inning and never looked back.

▪ May 4 — Braves 6, Marlins 3: Atlanta handed the Marlins their first sweep of the season, continuing its dominance over Miami over the past five-plus years.

▪ May 5 — Cubs 4, Marlins 1: Miami’s offense failed to generate momentum and the Cubs capitalized on mistakes to take the series opener at Wrigley Field.

▪ May 6 — Cubs 4, Marlins 2: Miami gave up three runs in the eighth as the defense spoiled quality work from the pitching staff on a bullpen day.

▪ May 7 — Marlins 5, Cubs 4 (14 innings): Alcantara threw 8 2/3 strong innings and Hampson scored on a go-ahead balk in extra innings to salvage the series finale at Wrigley Field.

▪ Monday — Diamondbacks 5, Marlins 2: Once again, Zac Gallen dominated the Marlins.

▪ Tuesday — Marlins 6, Diamondbacks 2: Two massive home runs from Jorge Soler powered the Marlins to a win.

▪ Wednesday — Marlins 5, Diamondbacks 4: Joey Wendle’s go-ahead RBI double in the ninth secured the series win and Miami’s MLB-record 12th consecutive one-run win to begin a season.

▪ Friday — Reds 7, Marlins 4: Cincinnati’s Jake Fraley hit two home runs, including a go-ahead shot in the eighth, to spoil Eury Perez’s MLB debut.

▪ Saturday — Reds 6, Marlins 5: Chisholm and Sanchez both left this game with injury to derail a Marlins comeback bid.

▪ Sunday — Marlins 3, Reds 1: A two-run seventh inning gave Miami the lead for good and backed up a strong pitching performance from Braxton Garrett.

Ng’s drive to succeed comes from mom

Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng has had many inspirations on her trailblazing path of a career in baseball.

But there’s one that is closest to Ng’s heart.

Her name is Virginia Cagar.

Ng simply calls her “Mom.”

Cagar, 75, is a mother of five who made her living as a banker, with her career starting at the height of the women’s liberation movement in the 1970s. She worked to make sure her children would be successful and tried to instill the best qualities in them.

“She was always trying to be the best for her family,” Ng, 54, said. “She’s driven, always trying to get better. That’s where I get a lot of it.”

The biggest piece of advice Ng received from Cagar: “Don’t take a backseat to anybody.”

For the full story, click here.

In case you missed it

▪ This Jazz Chisholm Jr. in center field experiment is working out so far.

▪ Catcher Jacob Stallings struck out the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. — no, seriously.

▪ Bench coach Luis Urueta’s connection to the Marlins goes back to their 1997 World Series.

▪ MLB call up was “a moment I’ll never forget,” prospect Xavier Edwards said.

▪ Jean Segura’s ejection in Arizona was just the latest frustration for the veteran in the midst of a trying start to his first season with the Marlins.

Upcoming Marlins schedule

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: Marlins vs. Nationals, 6:40 p.m.

Wednesday: Marlins vs. Nationals, 6:40 p.m.

Thursday: Marlins vs. Nationals, 1:10 p.m.

Friday: Marlins @ Giants, 10:15 p.m.

Saturday: Marlins @ Giants, 4:05 p.m.

Sunday: Marlins @ Giants, 4:05 p.m.