MLB batting leader sits for Marlins due to sore ankle

The Miami Marlins recorded an important win over the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday, allowing Miami to keep pace in the tight NL wild card race.  The Fish won despite Luis Arraez’s absence, as the second baseman didn’t play after making a late exit from Saturday’s game due to a twisted ankle. Arraez had already missed a pair of games this week due to that sore ankle, and exacerbated the problem in somewhat fluky fashion on Saturday.  As he told MLB.com and other reporters, Arraez slipped while walking down the dugout steps at the conclusion of the eighth inning, in part because the ballpark had suddenly dimmed the lights for the entrance of closer Tanner Scott.

“It’s frustrating because I need to play….The good thing is I’ve got the day off tomorrow, and then let’s see how I feel the next day,” Arraez said, in reference to Miami’s off-day Monday.

After that break, the Marlins will play their final six games of the regular season — three games against the Mets and three against the Pirates, all on the road. Sunday’s result notwithstanding, it is hard to imagine the Marlins can push into the playoffs without the Major League batting average leader in the lineup, so Miami fans can only hope that Arraez’s ankle is okay after some rest.

More from the NL East…

• Right-hander Hurston Waldrep’s season is over, as the Atlanta Braves prospect won’t pitch again in 2023 after tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings in his first Triple-A start yesterday.  The 24th overall pick of the 2023 draft, Waldrep had pitched so well in his first professional season that there had been some speculation that the Braves could turn to the 21-year-old as a secret weapon out of the bullpen for the end of the regular season and into the playoffs.  However, Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that the Braves didn’t want to rush things with the young hurler, and the Triple-A debut came about because the organization wanted Waldrep to get one more outing since the Double-A season is already over.  Baseball America and MLB Pipeline each rate Waldrep as the No. 2 prospect in Atlanta’s farm system, and the righty has delivered a 1.53 ERA and a 33.3 percent strikeout rate over 29 1/3 total innings, split between A-ball, high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A.
• Prior to Sunday night’s game with the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets called up Anthony Kay from Triple-A while optioning right-hander Peyton Battenfield to Triple-A in the corresponding move.  It marks Kay’s first stint on New York’s active roster since the lefty was claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs in mid-September and he has a 6.35 ERA over 11 1/3 MLB innings with Chicago this season.  Selected 31rd overall by the Mets in the 2016 draft, Kay was a notable prospect in the Amazins’ farm system before being dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays as part of the Marcus Stroman swap at the 2019 trade deadline.  Kay has a 5.60 ERA in 82 innings with Toronto and Chicago at the big league level and there’s at least a full-circle moment in his career as he finally looks set to make his debut in a Mets uniform.