The Miami Marlins on Saturday placed Christopher Morel on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain and recalled prospect Deyvison De Los Santos to fill his spot on the roster.
Morel’s injury occurred pregame Friday on his final swings of batting practice. He was a late scratch from the team’s Opening Day lineup as a result.
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Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said Morel, who was expected to get the bulk of Miami’s playing time early at first base, will likely be out between four and six weeks. Morel was one of two veteran position players Miami signed as free agents ahead of the season along with outfielder Austin Slater.
“In the next week or 10 days, we’ll have a better idea of what the range is,” McCullough said, “but looking at somewhere around a month.”
Morel, speaking postgame Saturday, said the discomfort he felt after batting practice Friday was “something I never felt before” and that the timing of the injury was “frustrating.”
“This is very important year for me,” Morel said. “I’ve been working a lot to do great things this year, and just to for this to happen a couple hours before the game, it was extremely frustrating.”
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In Morel’s absence, Connor Norby will get the bulk of the reps at first base with backup catcher Liam Hicks and De Los Santos also getting reps there.
Norby started at first base on Friday in Miami’s 2-1 Opening Day win over the Colorado Rockies and was tested early and often. He finished the game with seven putouts. Norby, who is moving to first base from third base, is starting there again Saturday.
Miami Marlins third base Deyvison De Los Santos (65) catches the ball during first full-squad spring training workouts at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Jupiter, Fla.
(Photo by Matias J. Ocner/mocner@miamiherald.com)
McCullough said De Los Santos, a right-handed hitter, will start on Sunday and will get the bulk of his playing time against left-handed pitching either at first base or designated hitter.
De Los Santos, 22, was the headliner of the Marlins’ trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for relief pitcher A.J. Puk. The 22-year-old is a career .279 hitter with an .808 on-base-plus-slugging mark, 103 home runs, 97 doubles and 338 runs scored in 549 games.
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In 206 career games in Triple A, De Los Santos has 39 home runs.
“My strength is just being able to hit the ball right in the barrel,” De Los Santos said. “Just constantly produce that damage against pitchers. The goal is just to be that be productive on the field.”
Added McCullough: “He’s gotten so many Triple A at-bats in games at this point that you forget how young he is. He’s been very young for his level now for several seasons. The power potential, the impact, we know that’s something we certainly were intrigued by acquiring De Los Santos — how hard he hits the ball. Him refining his at-bat quality, his approach offensively, probably ends up being the determining factor of how much of that power he gets to at the major-league level. Excited for him. He’ll get a chance to come up here and help us out.”