As expected, the Marlins after Thursday’s game confirmed Anibal Sanchez will get the start in the series opener in Atlanta. They optioned Cristhian Martinez, who had a phenomenal outing Thursday, back to Double-A Jacksonville.

Martinez entered for Josh Johnson in the fifth with the bases loaded and one out. He induced a Carlos Lee double play ball and pitched two more perfect innings. Johnson exited after allowing four runs on seven hits through 4 1/3 innings.

One thing’s for certain: If the Marlins are going to stay in this thing the rotation has to get better in a hurry. We’ve seen some nice starts this month, but overall the starters have been underwhelming. So far in August: 7-5 with a 5.66 ERA and 98 hits in 95 2/3 innings. Perhaps most troubling is that the starters are averaging just under 5 1/3 innings per outing.

With the Phillies up 6 1/2 games with 41 to play, it’s looking more and more like the Marlins’ best shot at the postseason is the wild card. The Rockies have a four-game cushion on the Marlins and Braves, and lead the Giants by two.

Here’s to hoping they can catch some lightning in  a bottle with Anibal. I’ve never been a huge fan of his, but I’d like to see him come back and pitch well, obviously.

Also, this is a weird story coming out of New York:

Mets Deny Sheffield’s Request For Extension
By Brian Shephard [August 21 at 9:10am CST]FRIDAY, 9:10am: Sherman reports that Sheffield demanded to be released or traded to the Marlins.

THURSDAY, 8:48pm: SI’s Jon Heyman reports, via Twitter, that the Giants were the team that claimed Sheffield on waivers earlier this month.

6:23pm: David Lennon at Newsdayreminds us that earlier this month, the Mets placed Sheff on waivers,but pulled him back when he was claimed. This means he cannot betraded; the Mets could release him or place him on irrevocable waiversand lose him if he is claimed.

5:57pm: Via Twitter, Sherman cites a Mets official who says that “Sheffield has not been released.”

5:47pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post is reporting that Gary Sheffieldand the Mets are at odds about his contract situation. Sherman cites”two sources” who say that Sheffield asked the team for a contractextension and was denied. The sources say he is now threatening toleave the team.

The two parties are now in discussions,according to Sherman, and the release of the aging outfielder is “apossibility.” Sheffield was pulled from the roster for tonight’s game,but Jerry Manuel said he pulled himself “to clear his head.”

So he wants to be a Marlin again. This is really odd, as he can’t be traded to us, but if he is released, he might be able to scare off other potential sutors if he really is intent on coming back. His bat would be really nice to start 4 times a week, but I’m not sure there’s any room for him, unless you really want to kill your outfield defense and take Hermida out of the lineup. He’s only played 18 games there this season, but he is sporting a nifty .286/.378/.468 line that would look awfully nice in this lineup.

Would you welcome back one of the all-time great fish?

Well, I kind of gave it all away in the headline, didn’t I?

But yes, Gaby Sanchez will be meeting the team in Houston tonight, implying that Johnson’s injury might be kind of serious, though good to see he’s not going on the DL quite yet. Still don’t expect to see Gaby get much playing time; the management is obviously not thrilled with what he’s shown.

And to make room, Rick Vandenhurk was sent down to AAA New Orleans. Not too surprising given his trouble with the homers, but still would’ve rather seen him stay up and Sean West go down. RVH has shown more than West in my opinion, and he’s more likely to continue to be somewhat successful. He’s kind of like Ricky was early on in the season, and those home runs should normalize. West is also at 130 innings, 30 more than he threw last season. Would’ve been nice to get a few more starts at AA and then shut him down.

Would like to see some more of this.

And lastly, Anibal Sanchez has been great in his rehab starts, so no surprise to see him get the call for Friday. The team is hoping he’ll be able to pitch at a somewhat successful level, something he hasn’t done since that magical run in 06. His control looks pretty good in his rehab starts, and he said he was hitting 95 in his last start, so let’s see what he can do.

Don’t listen to anyone that tells you a 9-5 job isn’t so bad.

So as the trade deadline nears and teams behind trying to make moves, the Marlins have been suspiciously quiet recently, thus the lack of posts relating to the comings and goings of the major league team. There’s just not much to report about now that the marlins are officially ‘holders’. The only move recently was to call up gaby sanchez to fill out a uniform and waste away on the bench. It’s pretty remarkable that he hasn’t been given a chance, but it isn’t very surprising. So there really hasn’t been much to write about.

However, Anibal Sanchez and Matt Lindstrom have both thrown pain free bullpen sessions recently, so that is one thing to think about.

Do either of them have a place on the roster right now? Who deserves to be sent down for either? As bad as Andrew Miller was his last few starts, I have much more faith in his abilities than Anibal’s.

I hate to say it, but I think Anibal is done as a solid major league pitcher. Labrum injuries are just too tough to recover from, and he really hasn’t shown anything since 06 that says he can even be a #5.

And as for Lindstrom, I do think he can be a solid member of a major league bullpen, but I have no reason to think anyone currently in the pen deserves to go down for him.

This could be a blessing. With how bad he was this year, if he stays down after his injury, his arbitration number should be pretty low and we should have a fairly effective reliever at a low cost for next season, so that is certainly a positive.