MIAMI – The Marlins don't know yet how long they'll be without their home run and RBI leader after placing Liam Hicks on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain ahead of Sunday’s 2-1 win over the Giants at loanDepot park.
According to manager Clayton McCullough, Hicks will undergo imaging to reveal the severity of the injury and to determine the timeline for a recovery.
"We're hoping on the shorter end of the timeline for the IL stint," McCullough said. "A lot of that will be over the next two, three days, where he's more limited with activity, just how he responds, and some of the inflammation gets out of there."
Hicks, who leads Miami with 13 homers and 53 RBIs, was scratched from Saturday’s lineup with low back tightness. Per McCullough, Hicks still felt stiffness in his back when he arrived at the ballpark on Sunday morning. The club evaluated him further before announcing the decision to place him on the IL 20 minutes before first pitch.
With rookie Joe Mack receiving the majority of Miami’s catching reps since his promotion, Hicks has served as his backup and has been the club’s designated hitter or first baseman to keep his bat in the lineup.
Rather than recall Opening Day catcher Agustín Ramírez from Triple-A Jacksonville, the Marlins selected the contract of Brian Navarreto. In order to make space on the 40-man roster, Miami transferred righty reliever Josh Ekness to the 60-day IL.
Ramírez, who was demoted on May 4 to improve his defense and rediscover his swing, hasn’t found consistent success in the Minors. Entering Sunday, he was batting .238/.299/.402 (85 OPS+) with five homers, a 6.7 BB%, a 23.1 K% and a 58.2 GB% in 32 games.
Navarreto spent 12 seasons in the Minors before making his Major League debut in 2025 with the Marlins. In eight games for Miami last year, he went 4-for-14 with two doubles and one homer. Navarreto signed a Minor League contract with the Marlins over the offseason and was a non-roster invitee at Spring Training.
"We saw last year, [we've got] so much trust in Brian," McCullough said. "He's another one great teammate. He's going to do whatever is asked upon him. [We] feel very confident when he's in there, and [I] imagine we'll continue to lean on Joe and have Navi ready to go behind him "