Fish Bytes

Logan Morrison talks about his return to the Marlins' lineup; Coghlan on his calf; roster updates

NEW YORK -- Logan Morrison was all smiles Sunday morning sitting in the Marlins dugout. 

The 25-year old first baseman, who is trying to battle back from two surgeries on his right knee over the past year and a half, was happy to be back with his teammates and in a major league lineup for the first time since last July 28. Is his knee finally 100 percent?

"I don't think it's 100 percent, but it's pretty close," said Morrison, who spent all of spring training walking in an anti-gravity suit on a treadmill before finally beginning a 16-game rehab assignment last month. "I'm happy with it. Hopefully I can stay away from walls and the adrenaline doesn't get the best of me.

"When I first started sliding on it, it bothered. But the last couple days sliding on it hasn't bothered it."

After learning mid-game Saturday in Birmingham he was flying up to New York to join the Marlins Sunday, the always easy going Morrison said he sent a text message to manager Mike Redmond during the 20-inning game saying 'I guess I'm flying to New York to pitch.'

Morrison hit just .179 with two homers, 10 RBI, six walks and four strikeouts over 56 at-bats during his time in Single A Jupiter and Double A Jacksonville. But he's confident his hitting stroke will eventually come back. "It's what I do," he said. "It will come back."

What does he hope to bring a team that has a 17-44 record, worst in the majors?

"I don't have any secrets for them. I don't have any cure-alls," he said. "It's just going to be about going out and competing. Turn it around a little bit. Just because we're young doesn't mean we're not good. We have all the talent in the world. Play like you know you're going to succeed. Call it cocky, call it arrogant, fine. When you go into second base and a guy hits into a ground ball double play let him feel you. If he turns that one, he's not going to turn the second one. That's how you've got to play. That's how I play."

DISAPPOINTED COGHLAN HEADS TO DISABLED LIST

The last thing Chris Coghlan wanted just as he was beginning to turn his career around was another trip to the disabled list. But that's where the 2009 National League Rookie of the Year is headed after losing his three-week battle with numbness in his right calf.

"My muscle is not firing. It hurts. It feels like a real tight feeling that I can't push," said Coghlan, who is supposed to undergo an MRI on Monday. "The DL sucks. I've been waiting a year and a half for this opportunity I got, so that sucks even more. It's disappointing. I'm frustrated, but at the end of the day I did what I could do. I grinded through it, and this is what's just in the cards for me. I've got to turn the page, be positive and do whatever I can do to get back here as soon as possible."

A pinch-hitter and reserve for the first month and a half of the season, Coghlan found his way into the starting lineup on May 18th and hit .343 with a homer and 9 RBI over his last 18 games. With a crowded outfield full of young prospects, the Marlins have talked about moving him to third base. It's a possibility that's where he'll be when he returns.

STANTON COULD BE BACK MONDAY

> All-Star right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, rehabbing in Single A Jupiter and trying to come back from a Grade 2 hamstring strain, text messaged Redmond and trainer Sean Cunningham Saturday to tell him he's ready to go.

Although he's gone hitless in the four rehab games he's played in -- including a double header Saturday -- Redmond said just having Stanton back in the lineup will be huge. It's likely the Marlins will send first baseman Casey Kotchman, 0-for-20 this season at the plate, to the disabled list on Monday with a strained oblique to make room for Stanton on the roster.

"It's a great presence to have in our lineup," Redmond said. "Even if he takes, he's going to walk. If he's ready to go, he's ready to go."

> Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi was scheduled to make his fourth and final rehab start in Double A Jacksonville Sunday.

> Redmond said right-hander Henderson Alvarez, who threw a 55 pitch simulated game Saturday, will likely begin his rehab stint next week.

> Second baseman Donovan Solano, whose gone 6-for-10 with an RBI in three rehab game starts down in Jupiter, is available to return this week. But the Marlins haven't decided yet what they're going to do.

"Solano's available," Redmond said. "But we still have to evaluate where he's at. We got a lot of guys that are close and we've talked about having some decisions to make. We have to sit down and figure out where these guys are at. We knew we would be getting guys back. Of course it all works out you get them all back the same week. It's a good situation. We're getting the lineup we thought we'd have when we left in spring training back. That's good."

> Saturday hero Kevin Slowey, who pitched seven scoreless innings of relief, will now pitch on Wednesday. He was scheduled to make his next start on Tuesday, but Redmond has moved right-hander Jacob Turner up a day and flip-flopped their spots to allow Slowey to gain an extra day of rest. 

Ozzie sticking with Bell, predicts Stanton will kill pitcher with line drive

   SAN FRANCISCO -- Ozzie Guillen is not waving the white flag on closer Heath Bell. Not yet.

   The Marlins manager told a group of reporters a moment ago that he intends to stick with Bell as his ninth-inning stopper despite the veteran pitcher's run of poor outings, the most recent of which came last night when he entered in the ninth and the Giants rallied for two runs to send the game into extra innings.

    "We're a better team with Bell closing," Guillen said. "There's no doubt. That's what we want. That's what I want. I never manage for the fans. I never manage for the owners. I never manage for the media. I manage for the ball club, and obviously we need wins. And I'm going to give Bell every opportunity out there to fail again, because we're a better ball club with him as closer. And I want him to be the closer. And he's getting paid to be the closer. And that's the reason we signed him to be the closer.

    "I know he's not pitching well. We all know that. He's throwing the ball good. He's just not getting people out. I'm not going to unplug that (stuff) yet. It's too early. If you do that, maybe they lose confidence."

    Guillen said that if Bell didn't have an extensive track record as a successful closer, it would be a much different story and he would be quicker to make a change.

     "It's not easy to have patience. It's not easy losing games that way. But, we are WAY better ball club with him as a closer."

     Guillen said he feels that Bell's arm strength is "fine" and the "ball's coming out of his hand pretty good. It's just location -- bad location -- and no strikes. That combination, you're going to lose games."

     "People will go, wow what are you doing? I don't work for people. I've got 25 guys here to take care of. If it drives everybody crazy, what, you don't think I have blood in my veins? Yes. It drives me crazy more than anybody else. I'm the one that put him there. I'm the one that's got to take him out. I'm the one that's got to take the blame. All those people that worry about it, just relax. Chill."

     Guillen said he made the decision to replace Bell for Steve Cishek in the ninth because he sensed a sudden downshift in mood inside the dugout when the inning began to unravel.

     "Yesterday if we lose the game, that's going to be painful and that's going to stick with us for a few weeks. The way the reaction was in the dugout, if we lose this game, this is going to be sticking with us for a little while."

     All that said, Guillen added that neither Bell nor Cishek is available this afternoon for the series finale. And Guillen said he'd like to give Cishek, who pitched two innings in relief on Wednesday, a couple of days to rest up.

     GUILLEN PREDICTS STANTON WILL KILL SOMEONE

     After watching Giancarlo Stanton hammer two line drives, one of which struck the wall at AT&T Park with tremendous force and the other that sailed over it to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead in the 10th, Guillen predicted his slugger will cause bodily harm to some pitcher or third baseman before the end of the season.

     "If this kid puts the ball in play, that ball is going to get hurt," Guillen said. "I (never saw) anybody hit line drives like that. I never saw anyone the ball come off his bat like that. That kid will kill one pitcher before the season is over. Or a third baseman. I hope not, but, wow, if this kid hit the ball back to the pitcher the way he hit it to left field yesterday, it's going to be a (medical) helicopter coming down, and hurry up, because that's scary."

      TODAY'S LINEUPS (scheduling note: due to a conflict with the Heat game, the radio broadcoast of today's Marlins game will switch from 790-AM to 102.7 FM at 6:15 p.m.)

      Marlins: 1. Jose Reyes, ss; 2. Emilio Bonifacio, cf; 3. Hanley Ramirez, 3b; 4. Logan Morrison, lf; 5. Omar Infante, 2b; 6. Giancarlo Stanton, rf; 7. Greg Dobbs, 1b; 8. Brett Hayes, c; 9. Anibal Sanchez, p.

      Giants: 1. Gregor Blanco, rf; 2. Conor Gillaspie, 3b; 3. Melky Cabrera, lf; 4. Buster Posey, c; 5. Angel Pagan, cf; 6. Brandon Belt, 1b; 7. Joaquin Arias, 2b; 8. Brandon Crawford, ss; 9. Ryan Vogelsong, p.

      Umpires: HP -- Lance Barrett; 1B -- Paul Emmel; 2B -- Scott Barry; 3B -- Jerry Meals.

 

"Old" Zambrano would have thrown a fit after latest Bell collapse; Guillen mulling his options for closer

     SAN FRANCISCO -- Carlos Zambrano has every right to feel frustrated after being denied a pitching win for the third time this season because Heath Bell failed to come through. Bell didn't receive the blown save on Wednesday, but he definitely cost Zambrano the victory.

      The latest installment: Bell took over in the ninth on Wednesday with a 2-0 lead but couldn't hold it. The Giants ended up tying the score and sending it to extra innings, where the Marlins won on Giancarlo Stanton's solo homer in the 10th.

      But the still winless Zambrano said he wasn't upset at all. Not in the least.

       “I feel like I’m a new Carlos Zambrano,” he said, “because the old Carlos Zambrano would be throwing a chair and screaming at his teammate. But God has changed my life. I’m happy that we won today. That’s the most important thing.”

         Zambrano said Bell apologized to him afterward.

          “Heath failed and it’s time to pick him up,” Zambrano said. “Everybody has to pick up each other. That’s what the game is all about. I talked to him and I told him to keep your head up, as soon as I see your head down, I’m going to come to you and we’re going to have problems. Things will turn around. He’s one of the best and he’s had a rough start, but I know he will settle back and be the same closer that he was in past years.”

          Bell was unable to record an out in the ninth, prompting manager Ozzie Guillen to pull him for Steve Cishek. Cishek, who pitched the final two innings, was credited with the win. Bell said he understood the decision.

          “Ozzie made a good decision, worked out for us,” Bell said. “Stanton picked me up big time right there. I just feel really bad because Zambrano pitched a heckuva game. It still hurts, but it’s one of those things that, for whatever reason, I’m not having any luck this year. The tide will change for me, hopefully sooner rather than later.”

          Meanwhile, Guillen was non-committal about whether he'll continue to stick with Bell as his closer. But he sure did offer plenty of praise for Cishek afterward, an indication that he night be leaning toward handing the closer's role over to him.

          "Cishek did a tremendous job to go out there and stop that bleeding and come back and save the game," Guillen said. "It was nice to see. My job is to win games. I'm going to put the best guy we think is doing the job there. This is a tough call to any position because we spend a lot of money on this kid (Bell). I've got to put my best guy out there, and right now he's not our best guy. We got to wait to see."