Rojas dislocates finger on slide vs. Phillies

May 27th, 2021

The Marlins could be getting one key bat back this weekend, but it appears they may have lost another.

Shortstop dislocated his left pointer finger as he slid head-first back to the first-base bag while getting picked off in the eighth inning of Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Phillies. So while center fielder Starling Marte (left rib fracture) is meeting the team in Boston on Friday for possible activation from the injured list, Rojas might be headed to the injured list himself.

“He’s not feeling very good,” manager Don Mattingly said of Rojas after the game. “The finger, from what we thought, was dislocated. It sounds like they got it back in. He’s pretty sore. So that was a little bit of a blow right there, losing Miggy like that. Not sure exactly how long it is, but obviously it didn’t look like a day or two. It looks like it’s going to be a little bit.”

The Marlins have been playing short-handed with Jazz Chisholm Jr. hobbled by a mild right ankle sprain and Garrett Cooper dealing with right oblique tightness. Rojas’ departure after the play in the eighth inning Thursday only further complicated matters. Rookie José Devers covered shortstop in Rojas’ ninth-inning absence.

Rojas has a .275/.354/.433 slash line in 47 games this season. He will undergo more tests Friday before an IL determination is made.

Marte’s activation has also not yet been decided, Mattingly said.

“He’s played a couple games [on a rehab assignment],” Mattingly said. “He traveled to meet us in Boston. Obviously, we haven’t made any moves to say he’s been activated.”

Marte was off to a strong start with a .316/.420/.491 slash in 69 plate appearances but has been out since April 18.

As for Chisholm, he remains day to day and continues to slowly progress in his recovery. He’s been out since Tuesday but has not been placed on the IL.

“It looks like he’s walking better,” Mattingly said. “He’s still a little sore. I know he did a little moving around, a little light swinging. There’s no swelling in there, but he’s still a little sore. It’s his lead foot, lead leg that you hit against. That thing’s going to need to be stable for him to get out there.”