Connor

Norby

Norby wound up sitting out Monday’s series opener after being hit by a pitch over the weekend. The 25-year-old experienced some left elbow discomfort, but managed to avoid serious injury. He’s at first base and hitting fifth on Tuesday evening in the Rogers Centre.

Norby was hit by a Christian Scott pitch, and even though it went off his elbow guard, he was still feeling it enough that he left two innings later. Graham Pauley replaced him.

It appears to be nothing more than a regular day of rest for the 25-year-old first baseman. Christopher Morel will start in his place and will bat sixth against Braves’ right-hander Spencer Strider on Thursday evening in Miami.

Norby put the Marlins on the board in the second inning when he hit a solo homer to left center to cut the Rays’ lead to 2-1. It was the fourth homer of the season for Norby, who isn’t known for his power and has a slash line of .217/.308/.391 over the last week. Despite the homer, there’s not much to get excited about here.

It looks like a routine day off for the 25-year-old infielder. Norby has had a rough time overall at the dish this season, slashing .233/.343/.379 with three homers, 12 RBI and four swipes through his first 137 plate appearances. Christopher Morel will serve as the Marlins’ designated hitter and will bat sixth against Cade Cavalli and the Nationals on Sunday afternoon in Miami.

The Marlins showed a surprising amount of faith in Pauley going into the season, but he hit just .173/.225/.293 in 81 plate appearances, and his exit velocity numbers are so poor that Statcast actually thinks he’s fortunate to have that line. He might get another look later, but there’s little reason to think he’s going to turn into a quality major leaguer. The Marlins will likely go with Connor Norby and Javier Sanoja at third base for now, opening up more time for Christopher Morel at first.

Norby sat Friday, but he was back in the lineup at Christopher Morel’s expense today and had his first two-hit game in two weeks. The walk gave him his first RBI in seven games and 10th in 114 plate appearances overall. Since Morel’s return, Norby has been in the lineup four out of five games, with Morel playing twice. Things could get dicey for him if Morel gets hot, but it’s cleared he’s the preferred choice at first base for now.

Norby has been struggling at the plate lately, so giving him a night off to clear his head isn’t the worst idea. It’s also beneficial that he won’t have to face Zack Wheeler. Christopher Morel will start in his place at first base and will bat eighth for the Marlins on Friday evening.

It sounded like Christopher Morel was going to be Miami’s primary first baseman to start the year if he hadn’t gotten hurt, but he’s started just one of three games since coming off the IL. Norby DH’d in that one and played first in the other two. He’s hit .226/.330/.376 while starting 28 of Miami’s 31 games this year, including the last six in a row. One would think he’ll need to do a little better than that going forward in order to remain a regular, but even if Morel can overtake him, he could still play third over Graham Pauley.

Hicks was replaced by Agustín Ramírez behind the plate with Connor Norby taking over at DH. He’s presumably day-to-day heading into Wednesday’s series finale.