Dempster becomes latest former Marlin to join MLB Network; Dietrich says he's just in defensive slump

In case you haven't noticed, there's a quite a former Marlins sharing their opinions on TV these days.

Ryan Dempster will be the next one. He's been hired by the MLB Network as an analyst and will make his debut on TV Wednesday. 

Dempster is the fifth former Marlins player to become an analyst for the network, joining Mike Lowell, Cliff Floyd, Kevin Millar and Al Leiter. Except for Leiter, four were teammates of Marlins manager Mike Redmond when he was with the team as a player from 1998 to 2004.

Other Marlins on TV who are part of the FoxSports broadcasts are Carl Pavano and Preston Wilson. Redmond said he thinks Dempster will be great on TV because he's funny.

"Those guys took the easy road instead of coaching," Redmond quipped Tuesday. "Now they can sit up there and second guess me. I love it."

> Although Redmond suggested Monday Dietrich's defensive struggles might be related to the ground ball in spring training which broke his nose, Dietrich says he's just in a defensive slump.

Dietrich, hitting .290 with three homers and nine RBI, is on the bench for the fourth game in a row Tuesday in part because of his struggles on defense. He has a team-leading four errors in 47 chances. Last season, he made just two errors in 258 chances, but hit just .214 in 57 games.

"I played great defense for this team last year and I'm confident really on the defensive side," Dietrich said. "I know I'm helping the team offensively. I'm just looking every day to help this team win. Whether its off the bench or playing everyday at second -- you know you want to play every day and have a chance. I think I'm doing that."

Said infield coach Perry Hill: "He's a good worker and a tough kid. He'll come out of this. He'll be fine." 

> Even though Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna have been very productive at the top of the lineup, Redmond said he still hasn't decided what he'll do when Rafael Furcal (hamstring) returns from the disabled list. Furcal signed a $3.5 million deal to bat leadoff and play second for the Marlins in 2014.

"I haven't really thought about it yet because we're still waiting for that day [when Furcal returns] to happen," Redmond said. "It definitely  will be a [tough] decision to make with Yelich leading off and hitting the ball well too. But we'll figure that out when that day comes.

"[It's a good problem to have]. Last year I spent about an hour and a half a day on that lineup trying to piece that together. Now, I spend about 10 minutes. If it takes me 15 minutes when he comes back then I'm fine with that."

TUESDAY'S LINEUP

> Marlins (9-11): 1. Christian Yelich LF, 2. Marcell Ozuna CF, 3. Giancarlo Stanton RF, 4. Casey McGehee 3B, 5. Jarrod Saltalamacchia C, 6. Garrett Jones 1B, 7. Adeiny Hechavarria SS, 8. Donovan Solano 2B, 9. Jose Fernandez RHP.

> Braves (13-6): 1. Jason Heyward RF, 2. B.J. Upton CF, 3. Freddie Freeman 1B, 4. Justin Upton LF, 5. Chris Johnson 3B, 6. Dan Uggla 2B, 7. Evan Gattis C, 8. Andrelton Simmons SS, 9. Alex Wood LHP.