‘That one was for her’: Garrett Cooper’s most recent home run came with a heavy heart

As Miami Marlins first baseman/designated hitter Garrett Cooper rounded the bases at Nationals Park on Sunday for his go-ahead home run, he pointed his right index finger to the sky. It has been a trying past few days for Cooper, with baseball not near the forefront of his thoughts.

His mind, rather, has been with his 75-year-old mother, Gail, who was admitted to the hospital Friday after having a couple seizures in connection to multiple sclerosis, a disease she has been battling for about 10 years now.

“MS is a tough, tough disease,” Cooper said Monday before the Marlins began a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs at loanDepot park. “She has been good. You see how differently it affects everybody. ... She’s my biggest supporter.”

Cooper sat out the Marlins’ losses to the Nationals on Friday and Saturday before returning to the lineup on Sunday as the Marlins’ designated hitter. After striking out in the first inning and grounding out in the third, Cooper lifted an Anibal Sanchez changeup and sent it 426 feet to left-center field.

“That one was for her,” Cooper said.

“It’s been tough to be here and try to finish the season out,” Cooper added. “Everyone goes through family stuff and stuff outside of baseball, but to have that homer and to try to finish the season strong and then go back to California. Hopefully this year ends well and then I’ll go back to California to see my mom.”

Cooper, who entered Monday hitting .342 with a 1.034 OPS, two home runs, six doubles and seven RBI over his last 11 games after a nearly two-month-long slump, said he hopes to give his mom some “happiness while she’s in the hospital” before returning home after the season ends on Oct. 5.

“Every day, they’re watching my games,” Cooper said of his parents. “Friday was tough to be at the field, but it just puts everything into perspective. Baseball, it’s what I do, but it’s not who I am.”

Injury ends Trevor Rogers’ season

Marlins left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers on Monday said he will be shut down for the rest of the season after sustaining a Grade 1 lat strain in his start on Saturday.

Rogers had faced just seven batters and thrown 32 pitches on Saturday before he left the mound. The injury is considered minor and he should be full-go for spring training.

“Not really the way I wanted my season to end,” Rogers said.

Rogers also missed a little more than a month with an injured list stint due to back spasms.

Since his return from that injury, he had compiled a 2.95 ERA over three starts (six earned runs allowed over 18 1/3 innings) with 22 strikeouts against three walks. He pitched at least six innings in all three of those starts after pitching that deep just once in his first 19 starts, a stretch in which he had a 5.85 ERA and was underwhelming following a runner-up finish for the National League Rookie of the Year in 2021.

“It’s super frustrating,” Rogers said. “I was finally getting back to being myself and pitching at a high level and of course there’s a bump in the road to end it. It’s a year of challenges for me for sure, but I definitely got a lot better this year. I know what I need to work on going into the offseason to come back better because of it.”

Who’s on first?

After making three appearances at the position as a late-inning replacement, Charles Leblanc on Monday is starting at first base for the first time as a big leaguer. Leblanc, primarily a second and third baseman, started 59 career games at first base in the minor leagues, including eight with the Triple A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp this season.

“As much as anything,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “[general manager] Kim [Ng] wanted to see him some over there. The organizational thought process is to be able to see him over there, so that’s really what this time of year is for. We like him in the lineup anyway. He’s been playing some second in the lineup quite a bit. He’s got a pretty good amount of at-bats to show what he can do a little bit.”

Leblanc entered Monday hitting .277 with three home runs, eight doubles, four stolen bases and 11 runs scored over 125 plate appearances.