Offishial news, 4/2/21: Opening Day reaction; Neidert next man up?

Sixto sidelined

You can read up on the Marlins’ Opening Day loss here, but frankly, the most significant news item from Thursday was that top prospect Sixto Sánchez has potentially suffered an injury. He exited only two-plus innings into his start up at the Fish Tank (alternate training site) in Jacksonville due to right posterior shoulder discomfort. We should be learning more on Friday.

MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola confirms earlier reports from Craig Mish that Sánchez was not in the plans to pitch during this season-opening homestand regardless. Had this outing gone successfully, the 22-year-old would’ve pitched one more time before joining the Marlins on their first road trip.

Now, that has obviously been pushed back. Even if the medical staff finds no issues with Sánchez’s shoulder, any pitcher in this situation would be asked to stop throwing for an indefinite period of time. That makes the process of stretching him out for a regular starter’s workload more time-consuming. We will wait for additional details, but it is hard to imagine him contributing to the Marlins until late April at the absolute earliest.

Can Nick Neidert capitalize on this opportunity? He was on the outside looking in at the Opening Day roster because the schedule allows the Marlins to temporarily operate with a four-man rotation. However, that will change once they hit the road to face the Mets and Braves. A former Marlins Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Neidert impressed during his five Grapefruit League appearances (2.84 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 15 K in 12.2 IP).

Walk-off links

• FOCO released a special Billy the Marlin bobblehead for Opening Day that plays “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” It is available for pre-order.
• Friday’s Small Pod—available wherever you get your podcasts—discusses key moments from the hard-fought loss to Tampa Bay.
• Listen to new Marlins public address announcer Josh Appel introduce his first starting lineup.
• FiveThirtyEight gives the Marlins a 43% chance to win of collecting their first victory on Friday. Daniel Rodriguez (@Drodyyy) will provide credentialed coverage for Fish Stripes.
• On sale now: our “Smooth Jazz” merchandise created in collaboration with BreakingT featuring blue-haired, tooled-up Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.

• Cast your votes in the Elite 8 matchups of Fish On The Farm’s #MarlinsTwitterMarchMadness tournament (I don’t have a dog in the fight anymore).
• Check out the pilot episode of the Man On Second Baseball podcast with Joe Frisaro and Michael Sonbeek.
• Approximately 7,062 fans were on hand at LoanDepot Park to witness the season opener. Here are just a handful of them courtesy of Mark Brown/Getty Images.

Grid View

• Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images
• Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images
• Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images
• Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images
• Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images
• Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images
• Photo by Mary Holt/MLB Photos via Getty Images