MIAMI -- The Marlins will be without third baseman Connor Norby for six to eight weeks after he underwent surgery on a broken left hamate bone. The procedure was performed by Dr. Donald Sheridan on Wednesday in Phoenix.
Norby felt wrist soreness during his last at-bat in the eighth inning on Friday in Baltimore, and he was placed on the 10-day injured list on Sunday with left wrist inflammation. This marks the season's second IL stint for Norby, who was sidelined from Opening Day until April 17 with a left oblique strain. In 72 games, the 25-year-old has hit .241/.289/.364 with 11 doubles, one triple, six homers and 26 RBIs.
“It's been choppy -- missing the time in Spring Training, getting a late start to the season -- feels like you're playing catch-up,” manager Clayton McCullough said on Friday. “He pressed a little bit there, coming out, wanting to get off to a really great start. The unfortunate timing part of this, speaking with Connor in Baltimore, just he felt like things were starting to come around. He felt better about himself in the box. He felt like he was making some real strides defensively. And then at the time, not knowing for sure, maybe what the length of it was going to be and what it was, but he was sore.
“I think he was just more disappointed that he was going to have to miss some time. He felt like, right now, that he was trending [in the right direction], and he had some confidence in what he was doing. So for him to miss out on however much time it is for him, it's disappointing, and for us as well. Connor is still a big piece of what we have here going forward, and [we] support him. He'll get back, and hoping when he comes back, now he's not going to have to try to do anything more, get back into things and focus on the at-bat quality and continue to sharpen up his game defensively.”
As the club did previously in Norby's absence, Miami will platoon a pair of rookies: right-handed-hitting Javier Sanoja and left-handed-hitting Graham Pauley, who was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on Sunday. The latter will get the majority of the starts, especially against right-handed pitching.
Entering Friday’s series opener, Sanoja had a slash line of .232/.278/.333 with 14 extra-base hits in 70 games. With Norby out, Pauley started on Opening Day and would go on to hit .200/.258/.271 with six doubles in 29 games with inconsistent playing time. In 34 games for Triple-A Jacksonville, he batted .260/.340/.496 with nine doubles and seven homers.
“He was performing well,” McCullough said of Pauley. “He was able to get down to Triple-A and get some everyday at-bats, get into a rhythm. Once he was able to settle himself in there and play, he performed very well. Another opportunity for Graham to come up here, and we hope [there] will be continued development. It's unfortunate how the circumstances came about for this opportunity to come, but Graham put himself in a position to continue to play well and now has a chance to come up here and help us out.”