In hindsight, Casey Kotchman probably should have just let the machine crash to the ground. If he had, he may have reduced the damage incurred by his freakish injury that occurred on Monday at Marlins camp.
Kotchman sliced his left ring finger when he ran into the machine that was flinging infield popups. By clutching the machine to prevent it from falling, the veteran first baseman may have caused more damage.
On Monday, he received four stitches on his ring finger, as well as scraped his left middle finger. Both fingers were taped on Tuesday.
"He's going to be out a few days," manager Mike Redmond said. "I guess we list him as day to day, but he's got some stitches. We'll let that thing heal up. Hopefully, it won't be too long."
Kotchman joked about the bizarre circumstances that led to the injury.
"It's probably not every day where you get your hand caught in a pitching machine, on a pop fly," he said.
Teammate Greg Dobbs interjected that Kotchman should have let the machine topple over.
"I'm trying to be a gentleman to the machine, and not throw it down to the ground," Kotchman replied.
Until the stitches are removed, it is unclear how much time he will miss.
"I just got some stitches in it, and we'll see how it feels," Kotchman said Tuesday morning. "I think the tentative plan is to let it calm down for now, and see how it progresses."
Kotchman signed a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training on Feb. 15, the first day of full-squad workouts. He was brought in to provide depth at first base.
"When I hit the pitching machine, I grabbed it," Kotchman said. "When I grabbed it, the wheel was kind of cutting my finger. I guess, instead of hitting it over, I held onto it, and kind of picked it up, and it just kept slicing.
"I didn't even realize it was bleeding at first. When I walked back to first base, I was, like, 'Ok, it is bleeding.' "
One reason the Marlins signed Kotchman is because Logan Morrison's status for Opening Day remains in question.
Former Marlins manager Jack McKeon, who remains a special adviser in the organization, made his first appearance in Spring Training.
McKeon, who makes Elon, N.C., home, typically visits Spring Training camp for a couple of weeks.
The 82-year-old, of course, managed the franchise to the 2003 World Series championship.
Current Miami manager Mike Redmond was part of that team, and he played two seasons for McKeon.
Early Tuesday, McKeon walked into Redmond's office and proclaimed: "I'm reporting for duty."
McKeon was supportive of the Marlins hiring Redmond, who replaced Ozzie Guillen.
Redmond finds a benefit to having McKeon, and his 60-plus years of professional experience, around the youthful team. Redmond noted that as a manager, McKeon had loyalty to his players.
"He played those guys. He stuck with them," Redmond said. "It didn't matter if you were struggling, and you were 0-for-20, he'd run you out there. He'd keep running you out there until you figured it out.
"At the same time, too, he was able to get the bench guys all on board with what we were trying to do. He made everybody accountable. Everybody was accountable for their job, and their role on the team. And it worked. He had a lot of success."
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