Marlins southpaw lifted from start with forearm tightness

Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers was removed from his start today after a visit from the trainer, having thrown just 58 pitches over three-plus innings. The club later announced that he was suffering from tightnss in his left forearm, per Andre Fernandez of the Miami Herald.

At this point, the extent and severity of the injury remain an unknown. Rogers figures to undergo further tests upcoming. The southpaw has had an inconsistent career to date. He posted a 6.11 ERA over 11 starts in 2020, before proceeding to notch an excellent breakout campaign the following summer, when he threw 133 innings over 25 starts while registering a 2.64 ERA.

During that standout 2021 campaign, Rogers struck out 28.5 percent of batters faced, walked 8.4 percent and induced groundballs at a solid 40.1 percent rate. He came in second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, trailing only Jonathan India. However, he couldn’t maintain that production last year, posting a 5.47 ERA over 23 starts as his strikeout rate fell to 22.2 percent. Rodgers was also placed on the injured list for about a month due to back spasms during that wilderness season, which he finished on the IL due to a lat strain.

Rogers has shown decent form in 2023, with his ERA sitting at an even 4.00 following Wednesday's truncated start. If the southpaw eventually has to miss some time, it would be the second blow to the Marlins’ rotation this spring, as Johnny Cueto is already on the shelf with biceps tightness and is reportedly facing an absence of several weeks. Even in the event of Rogers missing time, the club would still have Sandy Alcantara, Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett for rotation work, though they would need a fifth starter at some point.

Devin Smeltzer is up with the big league club for long relief purposes but has not pitched since April 10, when he allowed five earned runs in four innings. Sixto Sánchez is on the 40-man but hasn’t pitched competitively since 2020 due to ongoing shoulder issues and is currently ramping up in extended spring training. Daniel Castano has already been up with the club once and could perhaps be called upon again. Non-roster options in Triple-A include Chi Chi González and Bryan Hoeing.