Marins’ Fairbanks hits a big milestone but hopes ‘it’s not the last one’
When closer Pete Fairbanks returned to his stall in the Miami Marlins’ clubhouse following his postgame shower on Friday night, a piece of paper commemorating a milestone was waiting for him.
All it had was a number: 100.
With his perfect ninth inning in the Marlins’ 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday to begin a three-game series at loanDepot park, Fairbanks logged the 100th save of his eight-year MLB career. It’s his 10th of the season after recording his first 90 while with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Fairbanks, who signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Marlins this offseason, didn’t want to get too introspective on the feat postgame but acknowledged the accomplishment is a special one.
“I mean, we’re still doing it, so hopefully it’s not the last one,” Fairbanks said. “I mean, it’s pretty cool, right? My dad texted me after the game, and I started thinking about how this was something — like, if you had asked me at 16 to pick a career, this is what I would have chosen. So to hit a milestone like that is ... pretty cool. That ball will go in my selection of baseballs that we have at the house.”
That said, Fairbanks has placed himself in pretty rare company among active players.
He is one of just 15 pitchers who have played this season to have at least 100 career saves.
The rest of the group: Kenley Jansen (484), Craig Kimbrel (440), Aroldis Chapman (381), Raisel Iglesias (268), Edwin Diaz (257), Josh Hader (231), David Bednar (125), Carlos Estevez (124), Jordan Romano (117), Kyle Finnegan (113), Ryan Helsley (112), Camilo Doval (109), Jhoan Duran (108) and Paul Sewald (104).
And Fairbanks has been able to get to that mark by returning to the high-end reliever form as of late that the Marlins were expecting him to be after getting off to an inconsistent start to the season.
After picking up saves with three consecutive scoreless outings to begin his Marlins tenure, things went sideways for Fairbanks in April. He gave up three runs as an opener at the New York Yankees before going on the paternity list, then gave up three more runs in a blown save against the Atlanta Braves in his first game back, logged saves in three of his next four outings and then coughed up three runs while only recording one out against the Los Angeles Dodgers before going on the injured list with nerve irritation. His ERA bloated to 10.00.
Since returning from the IL on May 16, Fairbanks has converted five of six save opportunities in, posting a 3.75 ERA (five earned runs in 12 innings) with 16 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .205 batting average.
“It’s just constant work,” Fairbanks said. “[Pitching coach Daniel] Moskos and I are working pretty hard at it to make sure we’re in the right spot. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job. Obviously you still have your ups and downs, but all in all, I definitely feel like I’m having a real season, not an interrupted one from earlier of the year.”
Added Marlins manager Clayton McCullough: “He’s been more efficient. He’s filling up the zone at a rate that I think he is accustomed to. It was a very uneven start to his year for a lot of variables. He’s in a new place, and the paternity list, the short IL stint. Even during some of the games where maybe the line score box didn’t look great, we felt great about where his stuff was, the place he was in. I think now, we’re just seeing some of that turn around. His stuff’s great, he’s accessing the zone more, and you see him getting ahead.”
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