Marlins could shut Jose Fernandez down if they fall out of contention

The Miami Marlins’ playoff hopes are dwindling, which could make right-hander Jose Fernandez a shutdown candidate.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly said on Wednesday that the team could very well consider shutting their 24-year-old ace down should they fall out of playoff contention.

“Absolutely,” Mattingly said when asked if a Fernandez shutdown was a possibility, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. “We’ll look at that as it goes. Obviously, we’ve been paying attention to his innings all along.”

Fernandez is up to 160 1/3 innings thrown in 26 starts in 2016, sporting a 13-8 record to go along with a 3.03 ERA and 224 strikeouts. The Marlins are currently five games behind the second Wild Card spot in the National League with 22 games to play, which could mean about four more starts for Fernandez if he were to finish out the season. But it makes sense that the team would be cautious with the Cuban and not put him out there unnecessarily considering that he underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2014.

Mattingly himself doesn’t appear to be very optimistic about the team’s chances of qualifying for the postseason, so Fernandez could be dangerously close to the end of what has been a strong bounceback season for him.

H/T Rotoworld