Marlins call up Galloway, Garcia; Riddle optioned
Reliever Brice placed on IL with gastroenteritis
MIAMI -- To provide more roster flexibility and increase bullpen availability, the Marlins on Tuesday made a few personnel moves prior to facing the Cubs at Marlins Park.
Shortstop JT Riddle was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans, and in corresponding moves, outfielder Isaac Galloway had his contract selected, and left-handed reliever Jarlin Garcia was recalled from New Orleans.
Austin Brice, who has been dealing with a stomach virus for several days, was placed on the 10-day IL. Brice threw 1 1/3 innings on Monday in a 7-2 loss to the Cubs. And the right-hander threw three innings last Friday.
¡°We sent JT down to get his playing time going,¡± Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. ¡°And make sure he is getting at-bats, and playing regularly and being ready for anything that we need.¡±
Promoting Garcia fills an immediate need because Miami¡¯s taxed bullpen entered Tuesday potentially without a long reliever. Wei-Yin Chen also threw two innings on Monday. Garcia last pitched on Saturday, and the 26-year-old has appeared in three games and has thrown 4 1/3 innings, with a 4.16 ERA.
Able to play all three outfield positions, Galloway got the start in right field on Tuesday. At New Orleans, he had a slash line of .297/.350/.730 with four home runs and eight RBIs in 11 games.
¡°I typically have pretty good springs, but I felt going into this spring I had more of a focus to be here,¡± Galloway said. ¡°In the past, it took so long to get here. I was like, ¡®Alright, it¡¯s Spring Training. Let¡¯s just go and compete.¡¯ This year, I kind of took it as I was part of it.¡±
Galloway made his MLB debut last year, and he hit .203 with three home runs and seven RBIs in 43 games. After the season, he was taken off the 40-man roster. He had a chance to sign a Minor League deal elsewhere, but opted to return to Miami¡¯s system. He was rewarded for that decision on Tuesday.
Riddle¡¯s status changed in recent days when Mattingly announced Miguel Rojas was going to be used more regularly at shortstop. Riddle, in 15 games, was hitting .156 (5-for-32) with two home runs and three RBIs.
Rosell Herrera is the team's utility player who can play shortstop. Adding Galloway also adds a right-handed hitter to give Curtis Granderson days off.
At New Orleans, the Marlins anticipate Riddle will play shortstop a majority of the time, but once a week he also is expected to see time in the outfield. He played some outfield while at the University of Kentucky, but hasn't done so at the big league-level.
¡°Primarily, he will play short,¡± Mattingly said. ¡°We¡¯ll try to get him a game here or there in the outfield. We¡¯d already started that process. There were already a couple of games that he was an out away in a double-switch of playing in the outfield here. So we do want to get him a game or so a week, but he primarily will be at shortstop.¡±