Jose Fernandez will make his 2016 debut with the Miami Marlins Wednesday night against the Detroit Tigers. However, he'll be limited in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.
The 23-year-old, who owns a 22-9 record with a 2.40 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 336 strikeouts in 47 career MLB starts (289 innings), returned last season to make 11 starts after undergoing the surgery in 2013.
MLB Network's Jon Heyman is reporting that the right-hander will be limited to 180 innings this year, but the Marlins will also use "common sense" when he approaches that number. That probably means that he'll be shut down before the 180-inning mark if he's showing fatigue or struggling, or he may be permitted to eclipse that mark if he's pitching well, feels comfortable and/or if the team is making a playoff push (as we saw with Mets starter Matt Harvey last year).
"The Marlins will limit Fernandez's innings to about 180 and space out his starts aimed at keeping him available at the end of the season," adds Craig Davis of the Miami Sun-Sentinel.
Manager Don Mattingly said earlier in the offseason that the youngster will get an extra day of rest with more than half of his starts.
Fernandez won the NL Rookie of the Year and finished third in the Cy Young voting back in 2013 when he went 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 187 strikeouts in 28 starts (172-2/3 innings). However, he suffered a UCL tear after just eight starts into the 2014 season and made only 11 starts last year as he recovered from the reconstructive elbow surgery.
Miami has had Fernandez and All-Star slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the field together for just nine total games over the past three seasons, which is not a formula for success for the Fish. The last time they were both in the lineup together was May of 2014.
It's safe to say that the team's ace and best hitter need to be producing in order to make a run at an NL East title. The club hopes to do that this year as they monitor Fernandez's workload and simply pray nothing extreme happens to Stanton again.
