Marlins Place Closer Pete Fairbanks on Injured List

The Miami Marlins place closer Pete Fairbanks on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday after leaving Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a nerve irritation in his thumb.

Fairbanks experienced numbness in his right hand and exited with the bases loaded before the Dodgers won 5-4 on a walk-off single by Kyle Tucker. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough told reporters on Tuesday that he hopes it will be “a minimum stay in the IL.”

“I think we’ll just have to wait certainly over the next few days, just to see how he continues to feel and respond to treatment,” McCullough said.

The Marlins signed Fairbanks to a one-year, $13M contract over the offseason, which is the highest amount of money dedicated to a relief pitcher in franchise history. Miami didn’t have a closer last year and had nine relievers recorded a save.

“I think what we’ll do is go into each game with what we have available and try to just win moments throughout the game,” McCullough said.

Cade Gibson was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville to take his place. Gibson has a 2.63 ERA, a 0.73 WHIP and 15 strikeouts in 13.2 innings pitched over 10 minor league games this season.

Gibson, 28, made his MLB debut with the Marlins last year and posted a 2.63 ERA in 44 appearances as a rookie. He narrowly missed out on a spot on the Opening Day bullpen to Andrew Nardi coming back from missing the previous year to injury. McCullough said Gibson “had been throwing the ball really well” in Triple-A and “showed last year that he was a very dependable pitcher for us.”

“He’ll get a chance to come up here now and fit into the ‘pen and whatever role usage we need from him on a given night,” McCullough said.