MIAMI -- Keeping their rotation intact is becoming a challenge for the Marlins, who are monitoring Adam Conley after the left-hander worked four innings in Saturday's 8-7 loss to the White Sox at Marlins Park.
Conley, who wasn't involved in the decision, hasn't thrown more than five innings in his last three starts. The 25-year-old said he has been pitching through a sore left hand, but notes his arm feels fine.
"We've been watching him pretty closely," manager Don Mattingly said. "We've felt like his [velocity] is going down a little bit. I don't know if it's tired or different things. We've been talking about different scenarios with him, be we haven't come to any conclusions with that."
On Saturday, Conley gave up five runs on five hits while walking four and striking out four. At the plate, he had his first multi-hit game. But he was lifted after 83 pitches.
In his first full big league season, Conley is one of Miami's frontline starters, posting an 8-6 record with a 3.94 ERA in 24 starts and 130 1/3 innings.
"There is some soreness in the hand," Conley said. "I could have thrown the ball a lot harder, but I would have thrown it halfway up the backstop. There is some weakness and soreness in my hand. To get the ball into the zone and try to make effective pitches, I couldn't throw the ball as hard."
Conley's fastball was clocked just below 90 mph.
"I tried to battle through today and get as far as I could," he said. "We're just going to do the best we can to get that feeling better."
Conley jammed the top of his throwing hand on the ceiling of the dugout at Wrigley Field on Aug. 3 in a game he didn't start. He recalls celebrating a home run by teammate Jeff Mathis and raising his arms.
"In Wrigley, I know the ceilings are low," Conley said. "Mathis hit a big home run for us. At the moment, I'm not thinking about it, and hit the top of my hand on the dugout. We think it flared up a little bit."
Conley is slated to start on Thursday at Cincinnati. But that could be subject to change depending on how he feels in the upcoming days.
Miami's rotation already is thin with José Fernández being skipped a start -- which would have been Sunday against the White Sox -- due to his innings plan. Fernandez is next slated to go on Friday at Pittsburgh.
"We're just going to do our best to keep the swelling or whatever is in there out, and try to get it better as fast as we can," Conley said. "I feel really strong and really healthy, my shoulder and my elbow and everything else. It's not an issue. It's just one of those fluke things."