CHICAGO -- The Marlins lost a scorching hot center fielder to injury, but they welcomed back another who didn’t miss a beat.
Miami placed Dane Myers on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Sunday) with a right oblique strain, and his replacement, Derek Hill, homered in his return from the injured list in the Marlins’ 5-2 loss to the Cubs on Monday night at Wrigley Field.
Hill, who was the club’s Opening Day center fielder, was due to return from a four-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Jacksonville for this Cubs series regardless.
Starting in center and batting seventh in the order, Hill grounded out to short in the third and struck out swinging in the fifth. With Miami trailing 5-0 with two outs and a runner on first in the seventh, Hill jumped right-hander Colin Rea's first-pitch four-seamer at the top of the zone and sent it over the left-center wall for a two-run shot.
“Just trying to match planes with it,” said Hill, who would go on to strike out looking to end the game. “When I was in Triple-A on rehab, they were throwing me a good bit up, so I was able to practice on it a lot, actually. That's all they did was attack me up. Just trying to match the plane.
“It would have been a foul ball straight back [with the wrist sprain], and I would have been like, ‘Oh my god, how am I missing this?’”
The 29-year-old had been sidelined since April 17, though he initially hurt his wrist on a diving catch on April 8 at Citi Field and played through it. Hill wouldn’t use it as an excuse for his performance at the plate, slashing .167/.239/.286 with one homer, two doubles, seven runs, three RBIs and three steals in 11 games, but it clearly had an effect. At the time of the IL placement, he had been hitless in his last 19 at-bats.
“It was definitely bothering him and he was grinding it out and trying to stay in there and wanting to keep going,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “... The break and the time was hopefully good, get that thing healed up where he could just go out there again now and take the kind of swings he was taking earlier in the season.”
During his pregame scrum, McCullough said Hill was cleared to play on a regular basis and will be in the lineup with "regularity." Like every other player on the roster, however, the club will see to what extent on a day-to-day and series-to-series basis.
Outside of Myers, Kyle Stowers and Jesús Sánchez got starts in center field in Hill's absence. Hill is the only natural center fielder on the active roster. While he wasn’t getting it done at the plate, Hill had recorded two Outs Above Average defensively and he ranks in the 97th percentile for sprint speed -- 29.5 ft./sec.
Myers, on the other hand, sustained his injury while sliding awkwardly into second base during an eighth-inning steal on Saturday. Though he remained in the game to score on Eric Wagaman’s go-ahead triple, he was replaced in the bottom of the frame.
According to Myers, the strain is moderate and should keep him out for a few weeks.
It comes at an inopportune time for Myers, who had started eight straight games in center field until sitting out Sunday with what was originally called back discomfort. Myers underwent further imaging, which revealed the strain.
"I've never had that injury before, so just a different feeling," Myers said. "Just went to the staff and originally didn't think it was going to be that bad, but after the imaging, it turned out to be what it was."
Since April 18, when Hill landed on the IL with a left wrist sprain, Myers was slashing .367/.415/.571 with three homers, a double, 10 runs, 12 RBIs and six steals in 16 games.
"I think the unfortunate part [is that] Dane was playing so well, he really was, [on] both sides of the ball," McCullough said. "Offensively, versus right, versus left. He was putting together really high quality at-bats, coming up with big hits, really executing on a plan, and his approach [was] at a high level for a good stretch of time. So unfortunate for Dane, with just how well he's playing for this to come up, and for us as well."