Conine dislocates left shoulder on head-first slide
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PHILADELPHIA -- Griffin Conine immediately clutched his left arm and howled in pain after diving into second base, turning a brief moment of celebration in the Marlins' dugout into one of worry.
Conine left the game alongside a team trainer and was later diagnosed with a dislocated left shoulder in Saturday afternoon¡¯s 11-10 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Conine's absence will likely be a devastating blow to a young Marlins team for which the 27-year-old outfielder has been a bright spot in the early going.
The play on which Conine was injured was his team-leading seventh double of the season. He also leads all qualified Marlins hitters in both slugging percentage (.438) and OPS (.790).
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With the Marlins trailing 9-1 in the sixth, Conine scorched a liner to center field that left his bat at 112.1 mph -- the hardest-hit ball by either team in a game that featured 21 runs. The ball was hit so hard that it led to a close play at second base, with Conine diving toward the bag and coming up in significant pain after appearing to jam his left arm upon making contact with the ground.
¡°It¡¯s unfortunate that that happened, because that¡¯s what this guy does -- he only knows one way to play,¡± manager Clayton McCullough said. ¡°Unfortunate there, he¡¯s going in for the hustle double, and he just kind of hit the ground a little awkwardly.¡±
Though the Marlins trailed by eight at the time, Conine¡¯s RBI double helped spark a three-run inning en route to a furious comeback attempt that ultimately fell one run short.
Meanwhile, on the defensive side, Conine entered Saturday as the only player across the Majors this season with multiple five-star catches (plays made on balls with a 0-25% catch probability, per Statcast).
¡°The play has been superb on both sides of the ball,¡± McCullough said. "You know what you¡¯re going to get from him every single day. He brings a lot of intangibles on top of the fact that he¡¯s played excellent defense in left, and offensively, he¡¯s been a real force for us.¡±
Making matters even worse for Miami, Conine's injury comes just one day after center fielder Derek Hill was placed on the injured list with a left wrist sprain.
Jes¨²s S¨¢nchez started in center for a second straight day on Saturday, but shifted to right field after Dane Myers entered the game as a pinch-hitter and stayed in to play center. Utility man Javier Sanoja took over in left field following Conine's departure.