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. 

Angry Hanley Ramirez punches cooling fan in dugout; has two stitches put on knuckle, but expects to play Friday

ST. LOUIS -- The Marlins lost Sunday's first half finale in frustrating fashion. But even before Heath Bell blew his sixth save of the season, Hanley Ramirez lost his cool in the Marlins dugout.

After grounding out to second base in the sixth inning and falling to 2-for-22 on the road trip, the third baseman returned to the Marlins bench and punched a cooling fan in the dugout, slicing his knuckle and forcing him out of the game. Ramirez had two stitches put on his knuckle just above his ring finger. But Ramirez and the Marlins expect he will be fine for the start of the second half.

"Very stupid injury, very immature," an angry Ozzie Guillen said afterward. "You're going to hurt yourself because you can't hit? Good hitters don't do that. Good hitters battle back and try to get better. Your injury doesn't just hurt yourself, you hurt your ballclub."

Ramirez was replaced by Donovan Solano, who struckout with the bases loaded to end the ninth. The Cardinals then rallied with three runs off Bell to win the game.

"I got mad," Ramirez said of why he punched the cooling fan. "I think its starting to bother me because I know we can do better than this. Personally, I'm not comfortable with what I'm doing right now. I know I'm playing hard, but at the same time I have to produce more."

Ramirez came into the season with high expectations. Some in the organization thought he might in the MVP discussion. But he's hitting just .248 with 12 homers and 44 RBI.

"I think for me, I'm struggling right now. I'm not frustrated at all. But I get mad because I know I do better than that," Ramirez said. "It's going to be better than that."

His manager, however, isn't amused.

"I don't pay attention to stupidities," Guillen fired when asked to explain what happened. "That made me mad. Players get hurt for no reason -- hitting stuff. That's very childish. We're not kids. We're grown people. When you struggle and you're a great player you have to try and be better. To be honest with you I didn't even ask him, I was so disappointed.

"We built this ballclub around him. This is the man in this ballclub and I never criticized Hanley Ramirez for not having the season we thought he had, but I will for hurting himself."

> As for Bell, it appears Guillen has reached the point where he knows something has to be done. He said the situation will be discussed and changes will probably be made after the All-Star Break.

"I stand behind him, but on another hand he's got to be better than that. He is better than that," Guillen said. "If he doesn't get better, I'll find a solution. I will find a solution because I just get tired to watch this, very disappointing to watch this everyday. I try to give this kid confidence, hopes, but you get to the point where we have to win some games. A game like that, it hurts. We've been hurting a lot.

"I have to make a decision, a solution, it will be drastic. But I will do it. We'll wait until the All-Star Break and I will pick whoever is better out there to do the job."

Bell, who has blown six of 25 save opportunities and relinquished the lead a few other times this season, said he understands if his manager has to make a move.

"That's Ozzie decision. He's had my back and I like Ozzie as a manager. But he has to do the best thing, the right thing for the team and right now I plain out suck," Bell said. 

"I feel like I've let the whole organization down. I'm the reason we're 10 games back, plain and simple. I've had the worst first half I've ever had and I think all my teammates can definitely blame me. If I had been doing my job we'd be right in the hunt."

Bell said he didn't apologize to teammates afterward because he's giving it his all.

"If I come in here and say I'm sorry that means I didn't go out there and give 110 percent. But I went out there doing the best I can," Bell said. "Did I let them down? Yes, of course. But I think my teammates know I'm going out there and giving everything I have. For some reason, it's just not working. Right now my job -- is one of the main reasons we're under .500 and not five games above."

Stanton has successful knee surgery; Marlins expect he'll be out 4-6 weeks

ST. LOUIS -- The Marlins announced earlier this morning that All-Star Giancarlo Stanton had successful arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bone and cartilage fragments in his right knee. He is expected to be out four to six weeks.

The procedure was performed on Sunday morning by team physician, Dr. Lee Kaplan, in Miami.

An MRI taken on Tuesday revealed Stanton had some "loose bodies" in his knee. The 22-year-old missed four straight starts before returning to the lineup on Saturday against the Cardinals. He played two innings in the field and singled in his only at-bat before being lifted for Scott Cousins in the third inning.

The team is hopeful that Stanton, who leads the team with 19 homers and 50 RBI, can be back in early August to help them make a playoff push. Justin Ruggiano is expected to get plenty of playing time in right field with Stanton out. On Friday, the Marlins will reinstate center fielder Emilio Bonifacio off the disabled list and insert him in the lineup right away.

"Giancarlo knows he wants to come back, he needs to come back," Marlins President David Samson said. "We need him. He believes in the team and he wanted to have surgery immediately. It's not like he waited to have surgery. He left immediately. He was on a plane last night and on the operating table this morning. His interest is coming back. He's got to see how it responds. It was an arthroscopic surgery and it's a matter of the incision healing and then you're good to go."

Samson wants explanation as to why Marlins won't be represented at All-Star Game

ST. LOUIS -- Marlins President David Samson expressed his disappointment Sunday over the fact the Marlins will be the only major league team without representation at the All-Star Game in Kansas City next week.

"I think there were a lot of different ways [National League manager] Tony [LaRussa] or MLB could have gone. I think it's unfortunate. I think every team should be represent on the line in the All-Star Game," Samson said.

"... if our guy had surgery, he had to have surgery. Obviously, it's been a disappointing first half. That being said, there are plenty of other teams that have had a disappointing first half and they have All-Stars. We have a team full of All-Stars. You look at the fact this game counts and you need to win it, having [Greg] Dobbs as an All-Star pinch hitter off the bench was an option. Having [reliever Steve] Cishek come in and get righties out was an option. Having [Justin] Ruggiano come in, who is completely clubbing the ball was an option...

"Whoever made the decision, they had their own view of it and it's disappointing. There's nothing else you can say except to say I wish the first half could have gone differently."

Samson said he spoke with Tim Brosnan, an MLB vice president, about why no Marlins were selected. Asked about the explanation given to him, Samson said: “Can’t say that I had one.”

Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen, meanwhile, said while "it feels weird" the Marlins won't be represented at the All-Star Game, nobody other than Stanton in his eyes really had an All-Star caliber first half. Asked who he thought could have replaced Stanton, Guillen mentioned Rugginao (but worried he didn't have enough at-bats), Cishek and second baseman Omar Infante. 

"Everybody else, they should be watching on TV," Guillen said. "The funny thing about it is when we built this ballclub we thought we were going to have five guys in the All-Star Game. You look at the names we have, we should have a pretty good group of guys. They're just not playing up to the caliber."

> Samson also questioned why Nationals rookie Bryce Harper was the player selected to replace Stanton and why Ruggiano wasn't when they have nearly the same service time. Harper, though, has played in 62 games. Ruggiano has played in 31. Harper is hitting .283 with 8 homers, 25 RBI. Ruggiano is hitting .410 with six homers and 17 RBI.

> Samson said what bothered him the most about the Marlins during the first half was their inconsistency.

"There's been a lot of attention with the team there's never been before. I think when you talk about all the excitement going into the season that's what leads to this level of disappointment because you don't expect to be under .500 at the break at all," Samson said. "But the way things went I think we're pretty happy to be this close to .500. It could have been a lot worse. It took a record breaking May just to get to this position. I'd like to see us consistently win series and that's how we'll make the playoffs. This team is capable of it. Ozzie told the guys himself, there's no reason to think other than we'll be in the playoffs. 

"You look at the top of the lineup. There is so much upside with Jose and Hanley. Having a professional like Carlos Lee in your lineup makes a difference. Heath had his first half struggles, but he has 19 saves. I think he's blown five and that to me is a year's worth of blown save. I think his second half has a chance to be perfect. So, there's a lot of upside. The disappointment we feel now is what you take two seconds and say what could have been and you move onto the second half and realize what you have to do."

> Samson said that on paper he believes the Marlins could now have the best three through five hitting combination in the majors with Hanley Ramirez, Carlos Lee and Stanton. But Samson said it's time for those guys to deliver -- especially Ramirez.

"Hanley is the man on this team. But being the man -- saying you're the man and being the man -- are two different things," Samson said. "He has it in him to do it. I hope the switch goes on because he's sort of the catalyst."

> Samson said the key for the Marlins in the second half is getting back to .500 "as quickly as possible." The Marlins will certainly have a huge opportunity to gain ground right away. They open the second half with a four-game series at home against the first-place Nationals, whom they swept on their first trip to Marlins Park.

> Samson said the grass in the outfield at Marlins Park, which has turned brown, should be much improved when the team returns to action on Friday. Samson said the roof has been left open, allowing for rain and sunlight to help the situation.

> As for the team's home attendance, Samson said it's hard not to be happy with what Marlins Park drew (28,329, 18th best in the majors) in the first half. But he said the team's struggles hurt. He expects improvement in the second half because he expects the Marlins to perform better.

"Right now, our performance is just to the left of mediocre. We're not a team that shoots for mediocre," Samson said. "There are some teams that do. That's not our team. We're shooting for the playoffs and being around .500 is not anywhere near where we want to be.

"I think this market, our market can handle a good Marlins team, a good team and a good Dolphins team."

> With the Showtime series The Franchise set to resume Wednesday, Samson said Marlins fans will be privy to everything they want to see -- within the allotted time frame.

"We promised to give them access to everything and we've delivered that," Samson said. "They're everywhere we are. They were there when we traded for Carlos Lee. They're there when we send players down. They there when we talk about players, off the field and on the field. It debuts Wednesday and it should be very interesting because there will be a lot of stuff that won't make the show because of the hours of footage. I think fans around the world while they won't see us at the All-Star Game, they're certainly going to see us everywhere else."

> Guillen said he plans on keeping his starting rotation the same after the All-Star Break -- Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Ricky Nolasco, Carlos Zambrano and Anibal Sanchez. The Marlins and Reds are the only teams in baseball that have maintained the same starting rotation all season long and not used a sixth pitcher. 

SUNDAY'S LINEUPS

> Marlins (41-43): 1. Jose Reyes SS, 2. Hanley Ramirez 3B, 3. Carlos Lee 1B, 4. Logan Morrison LF, 5. Justin Ruggiano CF, 6. Greg Dobbs RF, 7. Omar Infante 2B, 8. John Buck C, 9. Anibal Sanchez RHP.

> Cardinals (45-40): 1. Rafael Furcal SS, 2. John Jay CF, 3. Matt Holliday LF, 4. Carlos Beltran RF, 5. Allen Craig 1B, 6. Matt Carpenter 3B, 7. Skip Schumaker 2B, 8. Tony Cruz C, 9. Joe Kelly RHP.