Leo Jimenez's Slump at Plate is Becoming Massive Problem for Marlins
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The Miami Marlins dropped the second game of their series on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 and will look to win the series on Sunday in an early matinee. But there was a main reason why the Marlins did not win Saturday's matchup.
Third baseman Leo Jimenez went 0-for-4 and wasted a golden opportunity to add to the Marlins' 2-1 lead in the sixth inning by grounding out to end the inning. The Marlins are not getting anything out of his bat to help their lineup and it is becoming a concern.
After Saturday's loss, Jimenez is now slashing .191/.282/.206 which is good for an OPS of .488. Jimenez also struck out three times in the game and he is ice cold at the plate.
The fact that Jimenez is not doing anything offensively for a Marlins team that had their six game-winning streak snapped, says a lot about his performance. The Marlins needed him to come up big in the sixth inning and he did not and grounded out on soft contact.
And Jimenez struck out three times in four at bats and the only time he made contact was a big moment in the game where the Marlins could have blown it up. Manager Clayton McCullough is going to have to search for answers to either get Jimenez going or find a replacement quickly.
There is a reasonable replacement in Triple-A that could take Jimenez's roster spot
If the Marlins make the tough decision to DFA Jimenez or send him down to Triple-A Jacksonville, there is a player that could replace him that the Marlins are definitely familiar with. Graham Pauley who also plays third base could replace him and Pauley has played with the Marlins before in seasons past.
Pauley is currently slashing .250/.363/.529 which is good for an OPS of .892. Those kinds of numbers are way more than what they are getting out of Jimenez and then some.
The Marlins need to be able to get things going on the offensive side and Jimenez for the time being does not seem to be part of that equation. So if the Marlins wanted to make that move and send Jimenez down and see if he can figure it out, Pauley should definitely be the replacement.
Pauley has the experience and is doing better than most infielders on Jacksonville's roster. Jimenez just has to be careful or else he is going to lose his roster spot.
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Tyler Miller is a 26-year-old Sports Journalist who has had a passion for writing ever since graduating from Georgia Southern University with a Journalism degree in 2022. Tyler has been writing about sports for going on 8 years now. Tyler has been a Miami Marlins fan for years and looks forward to covering them for On SI. Tyler also has had experience writing for FanSided in the past where he was a site expert and a contributor across different sites.