Cabrera's shoulder, Marlins bullpen make for wild Sunday loss

JUPITER, FL—While the morning clouds and accompanying rain came and went in Jupiter, an air of gloom lingered around the Marlins throughout Sunday afternoon. 

Before throwing his first pitch in what was set to be his 3rd Grapefruit League outing, Edward Cabrera was removed with an apparent injury. The soon-to-be 26-year-old had just commenced his warm-up pitches when team trainer Rick Lembo and manager Skip Schumaker made their way out to the mound. The Marlins described the issue as right shoulder tightness.

"It started tightening up in the bullpen, and when I went out there, it still felt tight," noted Cabrera.

Though the question of whether he'll make his next start is yet to be answered, Cabrera noted feeling better once coming into the clubhouse to do some stretching drills.

"It's early March and he wanted to stay out there, but it didn't make sense for me to have him push through for a couple of innings in spring training," said Skip Schumaker.

In 5 innings this spring, Cabrera had not allowed an earned run and was slated for approximately 65 pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals. In his absence, the pair of Devin Smeltzer and Matt Andriese—both non-roster invitees this spring—combined to give the Marlins 3 ⅔ innings of 6-run ball, allowing 8 hits while walking 4 in Miami's 12-8 loss to the Cardinals that took 3 hours and 24 minutes to complete. On the day, Marlins pitchers combined to issue 12 walks, all coming at the hands of 6 relievers, who each walked a pair of hitters.

INF Thomas Saggese, the 5th-ranked Cardinals prospect, showed off why he may soon turn heads at the big league level, going 4-for-4 with 6 RBI. In 23 at-bats this spring, the 21-year-old Saggese has hit .391 with 9 RBI.

On the other side of the coin, the Marlins bore the fruits of another multi-hit day for Luis Arraez, as well as Josh Bell, who walloped his first home run of the spring with a two-run shot in the 3rd.

In another feel-good story during an otherwise dread of an afternoon, Sunday also marked the return of Troy Johnston. Johnston, who injured his ankle in a game against the Phillies on March 1, went 1-4 with a BB, 2 RBI, and 2 K's in the loss. 

Looking Ahead

Miami will head north to Port St. Lucie to square off against their division rival New York Mets. Trevor Rogers will make his second start of the spring, as he looks to build off the 2 scoreless innings he put forth against Houston on March 5.