Rookie center fielder Cameron Maybin is batting .208 and leads the team with 29 strikeouts, but the Marlins have no plans to send him to the minor leagues anytime soon.
"We haven't even discussed it," manager Fredi Gonzalez said Tuesday. "I think we need to keep playing him. I think we got to run him out there and play him." Maybin didn't play Tuesday, a day after striking out three times in Florida's 3-2 win over the Reds in 14 innings.
The Marlins said as early as spring training that they expected young players such as Maybin to struggle as they adjust to the majors.
"Did anybody not think he was not going to struggle?" Gonzalez asked.
Maybin batted .500 (16-for-32) in eight games last year after getting called up in September from Class AA.
REDS 7, MARLINS 0: Sloppy baserunning, shaky defense and poor pitching added up to a big loss for the Marlins on Tuesday. RHP Chris Volstad allowed three earned runs in six innings, while RHP Hayden Penn allowed a three-run home run in the seventh to Brandon Phillips.
