As pitching depth thins, Miami Marlins continue to rely on bullpen in playoff push
All season, the Miami Marlins have put a heavy burden on their bullpen. They had enough talented relief pitchers to carry the load and take some pressure off the starting rotation, a talented group itself — albeit one that was primarily filled with younger pitchers who had never felt the rigors of pitching through a full season.
The Marlins’ relief pitcher reliance is amplified even more now as they make a final push to qualify for the playoffs.
Following season-ending injuries to Sandy Alcantara (right UCL sprain) and Eury Perez (left SI joint inflammation), Miami is down to just three primary starting pitchers — four if you count Johnny Cueto, who has bounced between starting and relief roles in the second half due to ineffectiveness.
All three of those pitchers — Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera — have exceeded their career highs in innings pitched this season
That puts even more of an onus on the Marlins relief pitchers to eat innings and be effective, even as the group gets used over and over again and individual pitchers soar past career highs.
“They’re going to get taxed,” pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said Wednesday. “I think they get that part. But none of them are giving into the fact that we’re without a couple starters and I’m tired.”
And it’s easy to understand why they would be tired.
Through games played Wednesday, the Marlins’ bullpen has combined to throw 601 innings, the 10th most in baseball. Since Aug. 27, when Miami began slotting in bullpen days to fill in rotation spots, Miami relievers have thrown 129 1/3 innings — the second most in MLB in that span behind only to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The group pitched 8 2/3 innings on Wednesday alone in Miami’s doubleheader split against the New York Mets.
But in the final week of the regular season, when a chance of playing in the postseason is right in front of them, the tiredness and the aches and the pains are secondary.
The big moments are here. And it’s all hands on deck for the Marlins.
“Our middle- and back-end bullpen is really good,” Stottlemyre said. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in them.”
Two pitchers in particular deserve recognition.
First: Tanner Scott.
The 29-year-old lefty primarily pitched the eighth inning this season before becoming the full-time closer at the end of August. Scott has set career highs in appearances (72), innings pitched (75 2/3) and strikeouts (101) already this season. His 2.38 ERA and .196 batting average against are the best of his career outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (1.31 ERA, .164 batting average against) when he only threw 20 2/3 innings.
Perhaps most importantly for Scott, he has cut his walk rate down to just 8 percent after being among the worst in MLB in that regard the past two seasons (15.9 percent in 2022, 14.7 percent in 2021).
“Everybody knew of his weapons, his stuff,” Stottlemyre said. “There was the uncertainty of how can we create some pitchability and some strike-throwing with that. He found a delivery that works for him. He repeated that delivery over and over and over again. It wasn’t too fast for him and he gained confidence through that delivery to now where he’s in the ninth inning and it does not matter to him who is up at the plate.”
Second: Andrew Nardi.
The 25-year-old lefty struggled in his first taste of the big leagues last year, pitching to a 9.82 ERA through 14 2/3 innings. His command and his confidence were spotty at best.
And then he was a revelation in spring training and made the Opening Day roster. He hasn’t looked back. Nardi has thrown 56 innings this year, tied for third most among Miami relievers, and has pitched to a 2.57 ERA. He has allowed just four of 39 inherited runners — 10.3 percent — to score and on four different occasions this season has entered a game with the bases loaded and allowed no runs to score.
“He’s worked himself into the back part of games where the highest-leverage pitches are made,” Stottlemyre said. “And the most pressure that can be put on a pitcher comes in those parts of the game. As a staff, we trust him.”
Also worth noting...
▪ Bryan Hoeing: The righty has made a few spot starts this season but primarily has been used for long relief out of the bullpen. Hoeing has pitched at least three innings in 12 of his 32 outings this season and has held opponents to two runs or fewer in seven of those 12 outings.
▪ George Soriano: The 24-year-old made his MLB debut on April 16 and has pitched to a 3.96 ERA over 50 innings. Soriano has been deployed as a middle-inning reliever, in high-leverage spots and in multi-inning situations.
▪ A.J. Puk: Acquired over the offseason in a trade with the Oakland A’s, Puk was Miami’s primary closer in the first half of the season before struggling after the All-Star Break. He has returned to form as of late, though, pitching to a 2.14 ERA (five earned runs over 21 innings) with 30 strikeouts against five walks in his past 21 outings.
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