Miami Marins designate Henry Rodriguez for assignment

The Miami Marlins made some room on the 40-man roster for the arrival of Anthony Desclafani, who will make his first career Major League start tonight in the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Fish had to open up one spot on the roster, and they did so by designating reliever Henry Rodriguez for assignment just a few days after calling him up from Triple-A New Orleans.

Rodriguez did not get any time to show off his stuff after Miami called him up. The righty reliever lasted just 1 2/3 innings and put up a 10.80 ERA. The inflated number came in large part thanks to his continued issues with control; Rodriguez walked five batters and had just one strikeout in that time period. The Fish initially brought Rodriguez up to replace Carlos Marmol, but after doing a superb Marmol impression, Rodriguez was sent down.

Curiously, Miami also optioned Dan Jennings back to Triple-A after just calling him up to replace the injured Jose Fernandez. Jennings is already on the 40-man roster, so there was no immediate need to send him down to the minors. He worked the last two games against the Dodgers, throwing one inning total while striking out one and giving up one hit.

It was a puzzling move by the Marlins, and it may signal the future of the Fernandez rotation spot and Desclafani's Major League role. The Fish have declared that they needed Desclafani for Wednesday, but afterward the rotation spot is still in question. This move could herald a bullpen assignment for Desclafani, who worked parts of his first professional season and college career out of the pen. It could also signal the impending promotion of another starting pitcher, likely top prospect Andrew Heaney, who had pitched this past Sunday and was unable to work a Wednesday start. If that is the case, Miami would have to designate someone else for assignment to make room for Heaney.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the Marlins' impending roster moves right here at Fish Stripes.