Giancarlo Stanton dealing with hamstring injury
By John Buhler
Don’t expect to see Miami Marlins power-hitting right fielder Giancarlo Stanton during Wednesday’s game. He is being held out due to a hamstring injury.
Through the first two months of the 2017 MLB season, it has not been kind to the National League East. Only the first-place Washington Nationals look anything like a playoff team. Clubs like the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets are among the worst teams in the Senior Circuit.
Despite taking the first two in their series with the division rival Philadelphia Phillies, the Marlins only find themselves at 20-30 entering their last game of May 2017. Now it looks like manager Don Mattingly won’t have the services of his best player in right fielder Giancarlo Stanton for the series finale.
Mattingly has opted to start future Baseball Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki in right field over the power-hitting phenom Stanton. This is because Stanton is dealing with a bit of hamstring cramping. With the Marlins drawing the postseason-contending Arizona Diamondbacks at home on Thursday night, there really is no reason to play Stanton on Wednesday afternoon.
Stanton has had star potential for Miami as the face of its franchise for the last several years. However, his inability to stay healthy consistently has ultimately prevented Miami from reaching the NL postseason.
To date, only the American League’s Seattle Mariners have a longer active postseason drought than the Marlins. The Marlins last played in the 2003 World Series as the then Florida Marlins, beating the New York Yankees to win their second World Series in six years. Those are the only two postseason berths in franchise history.
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We should expect Mattingly and the rest of Miami brass to carefully monitor Stanton’s health heading into the summer. Miami is already 11.5 games back of first-place Washington in the NL East. The Marlins are only 12 games back of the second NL Wild Card team in Arizona.