Apparently Emilio Bonifacio's re-injured left thumb is not as severely damaged as initially expected. Bonifacio had X-rays done on the thumb, and X-rays were negative, indicating that the damage was not as severe as initially thought. Ozzie Guillen, who initially expected Bonifacio to miss the rest of the season after his initial look at the thumb, seemed to very encouraged by the news.
"[The hand surgeon who did Bonifacio's May thumb surgery is] going to take a look at it and see if everything is what it was when he repaired it," Guillen said. "He’s going to be out for 15 days and, hopefully, no more than that. We’ve got to wait until Monday or Tuesday to see what the doctor says."
This is encouraging news for a Marlins team that has been ravaged by injuries thus far this season. Between time missed by Giancarlo Stanton, Logan Morrison, and Emilio Bonifacio, the team's outfield has barely seen action together. Due to a combination of factors including injury, the Marlins have run out their Opening Day starting lineup just 13 times this season, and with the recent trades and the possibility that Logan Morrison may miss the rest of the season with his knee injury, the team will not be able to run that lineup out on the field again.
These recent injuries have been particularly painful because they have come after the Marlins' trades before the trade deadline, when the Fish sent starting position players Omar Infante and Hanley Ramirez off to different teams. The team was already down three starters with Infante and Ramirez traded and Stanton injured, so suffering two more injuries has left the team's starting lineup extremely short-handed.
Luckily for the Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton should return as early as tomorrow to the lineup versus the New York Mets, and that alone will provide some offensive help to a lineup that has been surviving on the back of hot streaks by Jose Reyes and Carlos Lee.