Marlins designate infielder Christopher Morel for assignment, place slugger Liam Hicks on IL
The Miami Marlins designated infielder Christopher Morel for assignment and placed slugger Liam Hicks on the injured list before their game against the San Francisco Giants
MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Marlins designated infielder Christopher Morel for assignment and placed slugger Liam Hicks on the injured list because of a lower back strain before their game against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
Expected to provide a power bat when he signed a $2 million, one-year contract in the offseason, Morel struggled with injuries and production in his short Miami stint. He was batting .162 and didn't have a home run in 22 games. Although on the active roster, Morel had not played since June 10.
“Chris is a real pro. He handled himself well through the difficult tenure here and wish him the best,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said.
Hicks, who leads the Marlins with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs, was in the lineup Saturday before becoming a late scratch.
Morel began the season on the injured list after he sustained an oblique injury during batting practice before the March 27 season opener. After he was finally activated on April 27, Morel couldn’t crack the lineup, and his batting slump worsened until the club decided to cut ties.
Recommended for you
The 26-year-old Morel hit 16 home runs in his rookie year with the Chicago Cubs in 2022 and followed it with 26 the following season. Morel was traded to Tampa Bay midway through the 2024 season. He remained with the Rays until he became a free agent at the end of 2025.
“Coming into the season we had the high hopes that Christopher could turn around the talent ability that he has and kind of refine the ’22, ’23 version, and it just didn’t happened,” McCullough said. “The injury opening day set him back and the opportunities he had here became more limited over the last week to 10 days.”
In corresponding moves, the Marlins activated outfielder Griffin Conine from the injured list and selected the contract of Brian Navarreto from Triple-A Jacksonville.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.