Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is heading to the 15-day disabled list after straining his groin against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
The playoff push for the Miami Marlins might come to an abrupt stop with the latest news on Giancarlo Stanton. This year’s Home Run Derby champion and one of the most exciting hitters in all of baseball appeared to suffer a lower-body injury on Saturday night in the Marlins’ loss against the Chicago White Sox.
The diagnosis was not good.
That’s a humongous blow to the Marlins’ pursuit of a wild card spot in the National League with their 26-year-old star on the shelf for the next few weeks. Since June 27, Stanton snapped out of his early-season funk and had a slash line of .299/.361/.582 before the injury on Saturday night.
Stanton’s injury just made this weekend even worse for the Marlins, who have lost two straight to the under-.500 White Sox and four of their last five games. After Sunday’s finale against the Sox, the Marlins head out on the road for seven straight games against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
Without Stanton, that slim, half-game deficit behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card race could become a bigger number without their big bopper’s presence in the lineup. It’s been a struggle for Stanton throughout most of the season, but his impact affects the rest of the Marlins lineup.
There’s still plenty of baseball left this season and Stanton will return in a couple weeks (potentially after a quick rehab assignment), but the Marlins are going to have to gut it out without him.
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If the Marlins can hang on and stay in the chase with Stanton on the shelf, that would give a boatload of momentum heading into the final weeks of the regular season.