Report: Marlins interested in Soriano after Cishek's 4th blown save
A despondent Steve Cishek fielded question from reporters after blowing his second save in as many nights Monday in Los Angeles. It was his fourth blown save of the young season, and left his ninth-inning job with the Miami Marlins very much in doubt.
"This is about as low as I can get," Cishek said. "This is a huge trial in my life right now, obviously, career-wise. I've always found a way to get out of it. I'm waiting for that time to come."
Cishek, who converted 39 of 43 save opportunities last season, wasn't inclined to "push the panic button" after blowing his third save of 2015 in Sunday's series finale against the San Francisco Giants. Marlins manager Mike Redmond might be, however, after watching the 28-year-old surrender a walk-off, three-run homer to Scott Van Slyke in a 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers barely 24 hours later.
"I don't know. We'll figure it out," Redmond said. "We can't keep blowing late leads. That's the third lead we've had. We had one in Washington we weren't able to lock down also. We weren't mixing and matching trying to get to the ninth."
Redmond indicated after Monday's loss he will probably use a number of different relievers in the ninth inning going forward, including A.J. Ramos, Bryan Morris and Mike Dunn.
A subsequent report from Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, however, indicated that the Marlins have expressed interest in free agent Rafael Soriano, and Soriano's agent, Scott Boras, is very much engaged in dialogue with the Marlins.
The 35-year-old right-hander logged 32 saves with a 3.19 ERA (3.08 FIP) for the Washington Nationals last season, though he fashioned an ugly 6.48 ERA in 27 appearances after the All-Star break and eventually lost the closer's job to Drew Storen.
"Shrek (Cishek) has done a tremendous job for us, but at the end of the day, it's about winning games," Redmond said.
Cishek, a fifth-round pick in the 2007 draft, owns a disastrous 10.32 ERA with a 2.03 WHIP over 13 appearances thus far, allowing 15 hits and a pair of home runs in 11 1/3 innings.