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Marlins Eovaldi Could Lose Rotation Spot

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The Marlins were thought to have an overabundance of good young pitching to start the season.

At some point in 2014, the pitching rotation would have been made up of Jose Fernandez, Nathan Eovaldi, Henderson Alvarez, Andrew Heaney and Jacob Turner. All of them highly touted prospects, with high expectations.

Here is why it never panned out:

Fernandez blew out his elbow and had Tommy John. Turner strained his shoulder, performed poorly and was subsequently tradeed to the Chicago Cubs. Heaney was called up from the minors and through five starts he went 0-3 with a horrendous 12.27 ERA.

That left the Marlins with only two bright spots: Alvarez and Eovaldi.

While Alvarez sports a cool 2.82 ERA, Eovaldi is now in jeopardy of losing his spot on the rotation.

"We need to get him better," President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill told MLB.com's Joe Frisaro on Wednesday. "It's been a struggle, a battle for him in the second half."

The hard-throwing righty has done a complete 360 since the All-Star break. His ERA has ballooned from a respectable 3.61 to a dismal 4.48.

Eovaldi has logged a career-high 186 2/3 innings, compared to 106 1/3 innings last year.

"Obviously, he's in uncharted waters with his innings," Hill told Fisaro. "We've talked internally. We'll see where we go with his situation."

The Marlins haven't made the benching official, but come his next turn on Sunday against the Nationals an answer will be doled out.

Possible options left for the Fish are Andrew Heaney or Anthony DeSclafani.

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