It is time to bring back Cameron Maybin

Tonight, facing Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels, Fredi has decided to bench Jeremy Hermida, move Cody Ross to right field, and play Emilio Bonifacio at center. The reason ostensibly being that Hermida does not hit well against lefties (true), and Bonifacio would be an improvement. While B-Face is technically an improvement over Hermida (.325 OBP vs. Hermida's .277 against lefties), this should not be a permanent solution. It is time the team called up Cameron Maybin. Before he was sent down to Triple-A New Orleans in May, Maybin was OBPing a paltry .265 against lefties. After almost 70 games in New Orleans, he is OBPing at a .415 pace.

And while we're at it, great jersey at the Triple-A affiliate...

If the Marlins are serious about minimizing deficiencies in their lineup, they will have to at least consider inserting someone other than Hermida or Bonifacio into the everyday lineup. They have morphed into a two-headed out-making machine, and while I don't wish to denigrate them or scapegoat them, they clearly represent one of the biggest holes in the everyday lineup. B-Face is very fast, but if he cannot get on base, then he is useless to the team.

The Marlins do need him as a middle-infield replacement (since Alfredo Amezega is on the DL), so this might mean sending down a pitcher and carrying 13 position players. Then again, the Marlins could also bring up Brett Carroll (I'll defer to Craig's argument in favor at FishStripes), giving themselves a solid defensive replacement, as well as someone who can hit the ball.

They can do all of this when the rosters expand to 40 in September, but the Marlins need to win games in August, too, so why wait?