Marlins ace Fernandez will have stiff shoulder examined

Marlins ace Jose Fernandez headed back to Miami on Saturday to be examined by a doctor after feeling stiffness in his right shoulder following Friday night's outing against the Atlanta Braves.

Fernandez is 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA in six starts this season since returning from Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow.

"We want to get him seen," manager Dan Jennings said. "He's a guy who is coming off 14 months of rehab from Tommy John. As we do with any pitcher, we're going to make sure before we run him out there."

Fernandez complained of shoulder stiffness when he arrived in the clubhouse Saturday, and the team sent him home to see Dr. Dan Kaplan.

"Dr. Kaplan knows Jose as good as anybody," Jennings said. "Until they can look at it and determine is it tendinitis, stiffness? He'll make that determination and we'll go from there."

Jennings said he didn't know yet if Fernandez would miss his next turn in the rotation.

The 2013 NL Rookie of the Year has been a rare bright spot during a disappointing Marlins season. He threw 76 pitches over five innings in getting a no-decision during Miami's 6-3 loss Friday night. The right-hander gave up two runs and four hits while striking out six.

All of Atlanta's offense came during a 39-pitch fourth inning.

Fernandez threw 112 pitches in his previous start when he struck out 10 in six shutout innings against San Diego.