As Marlins continue assembling their bullpen, here are candidates to make the roster
As the Miami Marlins get prepared for the start of the 2022 season on April 8 against the San Francisco Giants, there is one area of the roster that remains the most in flux.
The bullpen.
The Marlins have searched the market for a high-leverage reliever this offseason to potentially bolster the group, but that was a secondary priority behind adding impact bats to the lineup — a move they did accomplish by trading for infielder Joey Wendle and signing outfielders Avisail Garcia and Jorge Soler.
“The bat was first and foremost,” Marlins general manager Kim Ng said earlier this month. “Now, we’re definitely focused on relievers and I will say that we’ve gotten some nice reports on some of the guys here, so we might be able to fill from within as well.”
While the Marlins’ bullpen overall held its own in 2021 — Miami relievers last year collectively had the seventh-best ERA in baseball (3.81) and ranked eighth in walks and hits per inning pitched (1.26) — there are question marks. They don’t have an established closer and their group with high-leverage experience is thin.
It gets even thinner when factoring in that Dylan Floro, the team’s presumptive closer, might not be ready for Opening Day while dealing with arm soreness. Floro has yet to appear in a spring training game.
With Opening Day a week and a half away and 10 total spots up for grabs, here’s a look at where the Marlins’ reliever corps stands.
Closer
When healthy, Floro is the frontrunner to be the Marlins’ closer mostly because he has the most experience in the role. He shifted to the ninth inning spot last season after Miami traded Yimi Garcia to the Houston Astros and recorded 15 saves.
But Miami isn’t going to rush him if he isn’t ready.
“We’ll just have to see how that goes,” manager Don Mattingly said. “He is a reliever where you don’t need to build him up to 100 pitches or anything like that. But I don’t think you also want to rush. He got a little bit like this last year. It was kind of a barky spring for him. It takes him a little bit to get going, and once he got going he was great. So we’ll just see, let that play out.”
If Floro can’t go, Anthony Bender is primed to get an extensive look at closer.
Bender, who broke onto the scene last season after the Marlins signed him out of independent ball, made 60 appearances and recorded 12 holds and three saves in five save opportunities. His slider had a 45.2 percent swing and miss rate and plays off his sinker that averaged 96.8 mph. He is adding a changeup into his mix as well.
Other high leverage options
The Marlins’ next two high-leverage pitchers beyond Floro and Bender are righty Anthony Bass and lefty Richard Bleier.
They will most likely pitch between the sixth and eighth innings when Miami has a lead. Exactly when each goes out will be matchup-based — Bass when the next portion of the lineup is right-handed hitter heavy, Bleier when there are more lefties due up.
Bass began 2021 as the Marlins’ closer but blew his first two save opportunities — the second of which was the Mets’ walk-off hit-by-pitch fiasco — before Miami moved him to primarily pitch the seventh and eighth innings. He finished the season with 70 appearances, most in high-leverage roles.
Bleier, who the Marlins acquired in August 2020 and gave a two-year contract extension last week, has pitched to a 2.89 ERA in 87 appearances for Miami over the past two seasons and has held left-handed hitters to a .218 batting average against throughout his career.
Beyond those two, Miami has righty Zach Pop and lefty Steven Okert as the most likely options among players on the 40-man roster.
Pop made his MLB debut last season after not pitching above Double A and pitched to a 4.12 ERA over 50 appearances with three holds and 51 strikeouts over 54 2/3 innings. His background metrics played out well — he was among the top 20 percentile of qualified pitchers in average exit velocity against (93rd), hard hit rate against (88th), chase rate (87th) and fastball velocity (80th percentile) — but the Marlins plan to slowly introduce him to high-leverage situations as the season progresses.
Okert, 30, made 34 relief appearances and pitched to a 2.75 ERA with 40 strikeouts and a .183 batting average against over 36 innings.
Long relief options
The Marlins also plan to carry at least one pitcher who can pitch multiple innings in their bullpen. Internal options still in big-league camp who can fill that role there include righties Paul Campbell and Cody Poteet and lefties Daniel Castano and Braxton Garrett.
Nick Neidert could also be an option down the road as the Marlins move him from a starter to a reliever.
The rest
Louis Head, Sean Guenther and Tommy Nance are the only other reliever on the 40-man roster still in big-league camp. Grant Dayton and Shawn Armstrong are non-roster invites who have impressed and could be options if the Marlins free up space on the 40-man roster.
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