MIAMI -- The Marlins placed Opening Day catcher Nick Fortes on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Thursday) with a Grade 1 left oblique strain ahead of Friday¡¯s 7-4 series opening loss to the Nationals.
In corresponding moves, Miami selected the contract of veteran Rob Brantly from Triple-A Jacksonville and right-hander Xzavion Curry was designated for assignment to create space on the 40-man roster.
According to manager Clayton McCullough, Fortes felt tightness in his oblique during Wednesday¡¯s series finale against the Mets at Citi Field. It was unrelated to Fortes being scratched from last Saturday's game in Atlanta with neck stiffness.
The 28-year-old Fortes was off to a strong start in 2025, compiling an .833 OPS with two doubles and one triple in seven games.
¡°He felt OK, tried to keep him warm,¡± McCullough said. ¡°The conditions certainly weren't helpful either. He felt some tightness, and then got back from the travel, had the [Thursday] off-day, still felt something that was worth going to get it checked out. Best course of action for Nick was to make the IL placement and give that time to heal up, and not let it become something worse than it is.¡±
McCullough didn¡¯t want to put a timeframe on how long Fortes would be out, saying it would depend on how he responds and recovers over the next week. McCullough also didn¡¯t go into detail about playing time behind the dish in Fortes¡¯ absence.
Rule 5 Draft pick Liam Hicks got the nod on Friday for his seventh start of the season. Brantly, who was on the Marlins from 2012-13, had been traveling with the club. Miami elected to go down that route rather than calling up No. 4 prospect Agust¨ªn Ram¨ªrez for his MLB debut. The organization wants to make sure he¡¯s big league-ready defensively before making that decision.
¡°Liam's done a nice job for us so far, and excited for Brant," McCullough said. "Brant has a veteran presence there to team up with Liam here during this time without Nick. So a lot of confidence with what Brant [did] in Spring Training, and his time around our pitchers. He's been down in the bullpen with all of our relievers. He's been catching a lot of sides, been getting at-bats, so a lot of confidence in Brant when his name gets called.¡±