MIAMI -- Marlins third baseman Connor Norby will open the 2025 campaign on the injured list after the 24-year-old was diagnosed with a Grade 1 left oblique strain, the club announced on Tuesday.
Manager Clayton McCullough said the strain will likely sideline Norby, who underwent an MRI on Monday in Miami, about four weeks.
"Feel for Connor," McCullough said. "He was in a really good spot, Opening Day right here, for it to go down when it did. Guys will step up and get a chance in his absence. We hope he gets back as quickly as he can. We know he'll do everything in his power to take care of himself and be ready when his body allows him."
Norby exited Saturday night¡¯s 6-5 Grapefruit League win over the Astros following his second-inning triple, though he felt the discomfort on the swing and not on his headfirst slide into third base.
Norby previously tweaked his oblique last Spring Training with the Orioles, but he noted on Sunday morning that this felt worse than that time. He was able to work out on Tuesday for the first time since sustaining the injury, doing a combination of bike, range-of-motion and lower-body exercises like squats with no pain.
"I'm already ahead of where I thought I'd be," Norby said. "I'm already ahead of where they thought I would be. So I don't care what timeline it is, I know that we're going to do it as quickly as we can, but also as safe as we can. That's also the main thing."
Jonah Bride, Eric Wagaman and utility player Javier Sanoja (Marlins' No. 15 prospect) are candidates to man the hot corner in Norby's absence. Graham Pauley (Miami's No. 25 prospect), who was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville on March 16, will likely be on the Opening Day roster in Norby's place. He started at third base and homered in Tuesday's 4-2 exhibition win over the Yankees at loanDepot park.
Wagaman started at third in Sunday's Grapefruit League finale against the Mets at Clover Park, turning a nifty 5-4-3 double play to end the second inning. A natural first baseman, Wagaman saw consistent playing time at third in 2024 while in the Angels' system, including 17 starts at the big league level.
According to McCullough, the decision of who starts at third base on a given day could be based on anything from the opposing starting pitcher to the other club's bullpen construction.
"Wags has been over there quite a bit in spring, feel very confident in Jonah," McCullough said. "Sanoja is another one that can handle and take that down. We've at least tried to prepare as many of those that are here with us as we could for -- you just never know what's going to happen during the season -- so to keep a lot of those avenues open during Spring Training and get them reps over there in the event things come up.
"So we feel like Connor is a big loss for the short term but that we have [players] very capable of stepping in there and doing it and playing well."
Norby, acquired in the Trevor Rogers trade, posted a .760 OPS and belted seven homers in 36 games with Miami to close out the 2024 season. The Marlins were hopeful he would take the next step in his first full professional season and become a building block.
The only other times Norby has been placed on the IL in his professional career was in 2022, when he was hit in the face by a pitch and caught COVID-19.
"Frustrated, but I know that I'm going to be back pretty quickly," Norby said. "I was already in the gym. I'm already pushing as far as I can go, because I don't like missing games. I feel like I let people down when I'm hurt, so I don't ever try to miss games, obviously. I know [everybody] feels that way, but that's just me. That's how I'm wired. But today was good work. I was able to do more than I thought I would be able to do at this time, and I'm progressing well up to this point. But yeah, it sucks. But yeah, I'll be back soon."