DETROIT -- Marlins left fielder Griffin Conine will undergo a left hamstring tendon excision next week in Dallas, the Marlins announced on Saturday afternoon.
Conine, who tore his left hamstring after attempting to make a diving grab in the sixth inning of Thursday afternoon’s 8-1 win over the Reds at loanDepot park, has a timeline of six to eight weeks to return to play.
"He had a couple decisions to make and chose a surgical route," manager Clayton McCullough said. "At least the timeline that we've been provided gives him a chance to come back this season and be able to impact us. So while unfortunate it went down, at least a chance to get it fixed and get back healthy and have at least roughly half the season left to come back."
When Spencer Steer sent a sixth-inning flare to shallow left, Conine broke forward with an above-average 27.4 ft/sec sprint speed and dove headfirst. He didn’t come up with the ball and rolled over, losing his glove in the process and immediately feeling behind his left leg. The initial diagnosis was left hamstring discomfort.
Conine, who homered in Wednesday night’s game, missed substantial time last season when he sustained a left shoulder injury on a headfirst slide on April 19 that required left labral and fracture repair. Although those were originally considered season-ending procedures, Conine returned last Sept. 23.
Last season’s injury halted a hot start, as Conine was slashing .281/.352/.438 with seven doubles, one homer and seven RBIs in 20 games. Including Thursday, Conine has a slash line of .273/.360/.591 with one double, two homers and four RBIs in 11 games.
"He seemed he was really disappointed in this happening this early on again, as you're in a spot in your career where you're wanting to establish yourself as a Major League contributor, and he was helping us out on the field," McCullough said. "I think that part for him was a little disappointing with certainly how last year played out. What Griff does, he'll process it now. He'll get it next week, we'll get this done, and start his path to coming back to help us out."
This latest injury coincides with All-Star Kyle Stowers beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Jacksonville on Friday. Stowers, who was an NL Gold Glove finalist in left field last year, has recently been getting first-base reps as well.
Until Stowers' return, Miami’s outfield group consists of Jakob Marsee, Owen Caissie, Austin Slater and Heriberto Hernández, who took over for Conine in left on Thursday and started on Saturday afternoon in Detroit. Gold Glove-winning utility player Javier Sanoja started in Conine's place on Friday night.
The only other 40-man outfield options were Esteury Ruiz and Christopher Morel, both of whom are rehabbing injuries of their own in Jupiter, Fla. First-base prospect Deyvison De Los Santos, whom Miami recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville as the corresponding roster move on Friday, catcher Joe Mack and middle infielder Jared Serna were the only other healthy 40-man position players in the Minors.
When Morel went on the injured list, the Marlins recalled De Los Santos from Triple-A Jacksonville to round out the active roster until they acquired middle infielder Leo Jiménez in a trade with the Blue Jays the next day. De Los Santos then got optioned to Jacksonville for regular playing time.
Conine's injury won't pull Connor Norby, who has been starting the majority of the club's games at first base, to the outfield so that De Los Santos receives more looks. Norby has experience playing the outfield both this spring with Miami and in the past with Baltimore's organization.
"I think that Connor is mostly going to play first," McCullough said. "There's a chance during a game for something to come about where we pivot that route. Deyvison's opportunities this time are most likely to be left-handed pitching. Versus right at first, Connor and Liam [Hicks] probably will take down the majority of those reps. And that's not to say Deyvison couldn't see a start over there versus right. I kind of see right now Norby will get the majority of the starts at first base."