Marlins using starting pitching depth to boost bullpen depth. Here's who got the call

Pitchers Adam Conley and Dillon Peters are back on the Marlins’ active roster.

But neither is joining their starting rotation - at least not for now.

Both lefties, who were recalled from Triple-A New Orleans where they were part of that team’s starting rotation, will pitch out of the bullpen for the time being.

The moves followed the Marlins’ decision to designate struggling reliever Junichi Tazawa for assignment on Thursday as well as option Tyler Cloyd.

The addition of Conley and Peters, along with Jarlin Garcia gives the Marlins three lefties in their bullpen. Until recently, they had none.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly said all three could switch back to the rotation or shift back and forth during a season in which the Marlins are developing several pitchers at both the major-league and minor-league level.

“You still look at them as starters,” Mattingly said. “We’ll keep trying to do what’s best for the guys and building their development. We really think Adam and Dillon both are possible starters. A lot of organizations have used the bullpen to bring guys to the majors. That opportunity is always there to pitch well and it keeps giving you looks.”

The Marlins entered Friday’s game with a rotation consisting of Jose Urena, Dan Straily, Caleb Smith, Wei-Yin Chen and Elieser Hernandez, who is on an innings limit and could transition to the bullpen eventually.

The Marlins are managing Garcia’s innings, but envision him as a starter long-term and have said they plan to put him back in the rotation at some point.

The moves give the Marlins the chance to continue to be patient with their nearly big-league ready prospects such as Sandy Alcantara, Zac Gallen and Trevor Richards.

“The number of guys we have where we control innings and monitor innings, you’ll probably see a revolving door of guys throughout the course of the season,” Mattingly said.

The surplus of lefties in the bullpen figures to help in the short-term against a team like the Braves, who have a lefty-heavy lineup with Freddie Freeman, Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte.

“It’s nice to be able to have that,” That’s one of the things we’ve talked about in our organization and that’s one of the things that’s really missing through our minor leagues is making sure we build up our lefty guys.”

Conley, who will turn 28 next Thursday, is 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA in 10 1/3 relief innings in his career. He is 19-14 with a 4.61 ERA in 56 career starts.

After being sent to the minors near the end of spring training, Conley went 2-4 with a 5.18 ERA in eight Triple-A starts, but was much sharper during his past five with a 1.93 ERA in 32 2/3 innings with 17 strikeouts and six walks.

“Developing that third pitch has put a huge emphasis on my fastball command and my changeup,” Conley said. “Just all around it’s been a really good process and really good progress down there.”

Conley, who went eight innings in his most recent outings, had the most success in 2015 when he went 8-6 with a 3.85 ERA in 25 starts. But last season, he split time between the majors and minors and compiled a 6.14 ERA in 102 2/3 innings.

“He’s getting deep into games, holding his velocity and he seems confident in what he’s doing so hopefully this is getting back the Adam Conley that we saw a couple of years ago,” Mattingly said.

Peters, 25, started five games and appeared in six overall earlier this season, going 2-2 with a 6.31 ERA. Peters compiled a 3.75 ERA in 12 innings (two starts) in Triple-A.

“He’s still continuing to work on fastball command,” Mattingly said. “The whole time making sure he has the weapons to get to both sides of the plate so continuing to develop all of that is the way to have true success.”

COMING UP

Saturday: Miami Marlins RHP Jose Urena (0-6, 4.38 ERA) vs. Atlanta Braves LHP Sean Newcomb (4-1, 2.51), 7:10 p.m., SunTrust Park.

Sunday: Marlins LHP Wei-Yin Chen (1-2, 7.56) vs. Braves RHP Julio Tehran (4-1, 3.49), 1:35 p.m., SunTrust Park.

This story was originally published May 18, 2018 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Marlins using starting pitching depth to boost bullpen depth. Here's who got the call."