Marlins notes: A.J. Ramos entrenched as closer full-time
MIAMI -- Dan Jennings offered plenty of interesting tidbits during his first pregame media session as Miami Marlins manager.
1. Right-hander A.J. Ramos will serve as the ballclub's closer rather than the Marlins going by committee as righty Steve Cishek works back to form.
Ramos recorded his first big-league save Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. He has a 0.95 ERA in 18 appearances this season.
"We will look to continue to get him the work and let him iron that out," Jennings said of Cishek.
2. Righty Mat Latos is expected to make his next scheduled start Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks despite exiting his last outing in the fourth inning with a left shin contusion.
"Right now it looks like Latos should be good," Jennings said. "Got an ugly-looking bruise, but he's mentally a tough guy. I think he'll post up and be fine."
3. Marcell Ozuna was a late scratch from Monday's series opener against the Diamondbacks. Ichiro Suzuki filled in at center field, batting eighth.
"He had a personal issue, he had to leave," Jennings said of Ozuna. "It will be gametime if he comes back, but he had a personal issue."
4. This past weekend, righty Tom Koehler went to the bullpen with All-Star Henderson Alvarez's return. Koehler tossed three scoreless innings of relief Sunday.
Whether Koehler will remain in the bullpen remains to be seen. Righty Jarred Cosart, who has a 6.91 ERA over his past three outings since eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets on April 27, has been scuffling.
"For right now, depending upon Cosart and where he is, TK could get back in the rotation," Jennings said. "That's to be determined."
5. The Marlins, as evidenced by Monday's lineup, will try to balance matchups, hot hands and rest.
Justin Bour, who broke up the no-hitter with two outs in the ninth on Sunday, got the start at first base and hit cleanup. Free-agent signee Michael Morse, who continues to work out of a slump, is batting .210 with two homers and nine RBI.
"Putting Justin there, putting him in the four hole," Jennings said. "Trying to create some left, right leverage in the lineup. Let's see what happens. As I told these guys. There are 13 position players that are going to be utilized. We'll get guys days off, we'll use the bench, we'll rest our regulars. We all need to be ready to contribute when the bell rings.
"Go with hot hands, go with matchups. There's a lot of things to look at. I would just say we'll be wise. We'll try to give the guys who rest a little time so they know that in two days they're going to have an off day and the guy who's going to replace him is mentally prepared."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
