Marlins links, 8/27/18: Series split with Braves, September call-up options, Cooper suffers setback

Bats go silent in Sunday’s loss

Kevin Gausman and the Atlanta bullpen held the Marlins to two hits en route to their 4-0 victory.

Pablo López pitched 5 ²⁄₃ innings giving up one run on six hits. López was only one out away from his sixth quality start this season and has pitched better lately with a 3.00 ERA in August is 3.00 over five starts compared to 5.96 in July.

Drew Rucinski allowed unearned three runs in the eighth inning after a Derek Dietrich throwing error allowed Charlie Cluberson and Tyler Flowers to score. Ender Inciarte gave the Braves their final run with an RBI sac fly.

The Marlins were only able to muster up two hits over nine innings—one off the bat of López and the other, a Derek Dietrich single. It’s been a struggle for them to generate runs for much of the second half.

Brinson and Alcántara to join the Marlins

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Don Mattingly announced that rookies Lewis Brinson and Sandy Alcántara will join the Marlins on September 1 (h/t Joe Frisaro, MLB.com). This comes as no surprise considering both are already on the 40-man roster and viewed as extremely important pieces to the future of the franchise.

Brinson has been rehabbing a hip injury that’s kept him out since the Fourth of July. The 22-year-old Alcántara made only one major league start before suffering an armpit infection. was only able to make one start before an armpit infection put him on the DL. The Marlins had an opportunity to return him to the rotation weeks ago, but decided to option him to Triple-A New Orleans, where he has been working on his command and secondary pitches.

Cooooooooop out for the season

Garrett Cooper suffered a setback during a minor league rehab assignment with High-A Jupiter. His right wrist has been an issue since the first few days of the regular season, and it may require surgery. The Marlins are seeking multiple opinions from their doctors.

Cooper only managed to play 14 major league games, posting a .212 batting average with only one extra-base hit. The news is extra disappointing considering that the Justin Bour trade presented a golden opportunity for him to claim a regular starting job.

The Cooper situation could allow the Marlins to create an extra 40-man roster spot down the stretch. Triple-A right-hander Jeff Brigham is probably first in line for a promotion, with Peter Mooney and Peter O’Brien also worthy of consideration.

J.T.’s biggest adjustment

Answering a reader mailbag for The Athletic, Eno Sarris presents an interesting table. Catcher J.T. Realmuto makes an appearance as one of the league’s most improved hitters when it comes to swing percentage inside the strike zone (Z-Swing%) compared to chase percentage (0-Swing%). Both stats can be found at FanGraphs.

The Athletic

While Realmuto hasn’t maintained his extraordinary first-half pace, he’s producing better than ever at the plate with a .282/.344/.486 slash line and 16 home runs this season.

BA still pacing rookies in a number of categories

Many sports writers have narrowed the 2018 NL ROY award race down to Juan Soto or Ronald Acuña Jr., but let’s not forget about Brian Anderson so quickly. He still has more hits and has played in more games than any other NL rookie, both leads by wide margins.

A strong September could push Anderson back into conversation. Please respect the Process Daddy.