The Marlins announced that right-hander Pete Fairbanks has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right median nerve irritation. Left-hander Dax Fulton has been recalled in the corresponding move.

Miami’s loss in last night’s game was a blow in a few different ways. They went into the ninth inning tied with the Red Sox 2-2. Fairbanks entered the game but walked Mickey Gasper on five pitches before being removed with an apparent injury. Tyler Zuber came in and the Sox eventually scored two runs in the frame, winning the game 4-2. Afterwards, manager Clayton McCullough said that Fairbanks was removed due to nerve irritation, per Christian De Nicola of MLB.com.

At this point, it’s unclear how much time Fairbanks will miss but it’s an ominous development regardless as this has been an ongoing issue for him. He has been diagnosed with Raynaud’s syndrome, a condition wherein diminished blood flow to the hand can cause numbness in the fingers. While with the Rays in 2024, he spent about three weeks on the IL due to a nerve issue. This year, a nerve issue again sent him to the IL for just over two weeks from late April to the middle of May.

Fairbanks isn’t having his best season, with a 6.02 earned run average overall, but most of the damage was done early in the year. Over his past 11 appearances, he has a 1.80 ERA and massive 42.1% strikeout rate. That’s an arbitrary cutoff point but it’s possible he was getting into a groove as he moved further away from his early-season IL stint, but he’s now back on the shelf again.

It’s a blow to the Marlins as they try to hang around the playoff race. Their 67-65 record has them four games back of a Wild Card spot in the National League. As they try to gain ground in the final few weeks of the schedule, they will have to proceed without Fairbanks, at least for the next 15 days. The Fish are also without Andrew Nardi, William Kempner, Anthony Bender and Ronny Henriquez.

The other relievers on the roster will have to move up a peg to cover for Fairbanks. Zuber, Calvin Faucher and Michael Petersen have been getting some of the setup work of late and could be pressed into more prominent roles.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images