WASHINGTON — The Miami Marlins placed right-handed pitcher Josh Ekness on the 15-day injured list with a right calf strain, the latest in a string of pitching injuries that has forced the club to shuffle its bullpen again.
Ekness sustained the injury while doing banded running exercises during Sunday’s pregame routine and “felt his calf go,” manager Clayton McCullough said. Ekness had been recalled Friday but did not pitch during the Marlins’ three-game series against the Mets. He returned to Miami for treatment and faces an approximately six-week timeline before returning to action.
In corresponding moves, Miami recalled right-handed relievers Zach Brzykcy and Tyler Zuber from Triple-A Jacksonville and optioned righty Josh White back to Triple-A.
“To have a string of guys go down like this – look, it is what it is,” McCullough said. “You’ll never hear me making an excuse for, you know, what has happened or anything. We feel like we certainly have a group here that we know can go out and win games.”
Ekness had been effective in limited work this season, compiling a 1.69 ERA across 5 1/3 innings in six appearances, all in early May during his first recall. He allowed just one run on two hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
Neither replacement arrives from Jacksonville with dominant numbers. Brzykcy, whom the Marlins claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals in November, has a 5.24 ERA in 22 1/3 innings across 17 games. Zuber, claimed off waivers from the Mets on July 9, 2025, then signed to a Minor League deal this spring, carries a 5.20 ERA over 27 2/3 innings in 19 relief appearances and one start.
White, who was recalled to work out of the bullpen Sunday against the Mets, made his lone appearance for Miami this year in that game, allowing five runs in two-thirds of an inning. Ekness will rest the calf before beginning a pitching progression, putting a potential return on track for mid-July at the earliest.