The Marlins have signed 33-year old righty swinging catcher Mike Rivera to a minor league deal. Rivera has played in 73 games in AA+AAA-ball so far this year and he is 53 of 233 (.227 avg, .702 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 4 homers and 24 RBIs. Rivera has played in 181 games in 7 years in the majors and he is 129 of 528 (.244 avg, .688 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 13 homers, 69 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. I don’t see Rivera staying in the minors too long as the Marlins need help behind the plate right now.

29-year old lefty swinging catcher John Baker is going to need Tommy John Surgery. Baker played in only 23 games for the Marlins this year and he was 17 of 78 (.218 avg, .589 OPS) with 7 runs scored and 6 RBIs. He has played in 196 games in his three years with the Marlins and he is 177 of 648 (.273 avg, .763 OPS) with 98 runs scored, 14 homers and 88 RBIs. The Marlins are going to likely have to find two new catchers for the 2011 season as Baker is going to likely miss the whole year and Ronny Paulino is going to miss a while as he will continue to serve his suspension for cheating (using PEDs).

The Marlins will be without 27-year old righty swinging infielder Donnie Murphy for the rest of the year due to a dislocated right wrist. Murphy played in 29 games for the Marlins this year and he is 14 of 44 (.318 avg, 1.052 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers and 16 RBIs. This is a big loss to the Marlins down the stretch as Murphy was a really solid player off the bench for them.

27-year old righty starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco tried to pitch through pain but in the end he will have right knee surgery next week as his year is over. Nolasco started 26 games for the Marlins last year and he was 14-9 with a 4.51 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. He has now pitched in 131 games (115 starts) in his five years with the Marlins and he is 54-39 with a 4.45 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. The Marlins were working on a long term extension with Nolasco before he was injured. The Marlins will likely wait to offer it to him again until they see he is healthy. Nolasco is #2 in Marlins’ history now in wins (54) and he is #3 in strikeouts (638).

The Marlins will be without 26-year old righty swinging catcher Brett Hayes for the next 2-4 weeks with a Grade #1 separated shoulder. Hayes has played in 26 games for the Marlins this year and he is 16 of 77 (.208 avg, .655 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers, 6 RBIs and a amazing 26 whiffs. 27-year old righty swinging Brad Davis will likely take over as the starting catcher for the Marlins for the time being. Davis has played in 7 games for the Fish so far this year and he is 5 of 20 (.250 avg, .683 OPS) with 1 run scored and 3 RBIs. The Marlins have called up 25-year old switch hitting catcher Chris Hatcher to back up Davis. Hatcher played in 101 games in AA+AAA-ball this year and he was 62 of 315 (.197 avg, .556 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 5 homers, 36 RBIs and 111 whiffs. Hatcher has now played in 359 games in his five years in the minors and he is 247 of 1,174 (.210 avg, .655 OPS) with 169 runs scored, 36 homers, 160 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. I don’t see Hatcher getting much P.T. unless Davis gets hurt.