'They've really done a great job': Marlins 'pen rises to occasion

MIAMI -- When left-hander Braxton Garrett is on the bump, the Marlins know there’s a pretty good chance at winning.

Entering Wednesday, Miami had gone 25-9 in Garrett’s starts since 2023, including a perfect 4-0 this season. But Garrett had an off night, lasting a career-low-tying 2 2/3 innings in a 5-3 loss to the Rays at loanDepot park.

Manager Skip Schumaker pulled Garrett after five runs and 53 pitches, handing the ball over to five relievers -- Declan Cronin, A.J. Puk, Anthony Bender, Andrew Nardi and Calvin Faucher. They combined to go 6 1/3 scoreless innings, keeping the Marlins within striking distance. They gave up just two hits and two walks while recording six strikeouts.

“It definitely makes it worse,” Garrett said of his short start. “The bullpen was incredible tonight. Every guy who came out there was just nasty and shut the door on them. It's just frustrating to watch -- not to see them do well, but to just see them do well and I really let everybody down.”

If the Marlins want to improve upon the Citrus Series – they have dropped 23 of 26 to the Rays since 2019 – mirroring the effectiveness of Tampa Bay’s bullpen isn’t a bad start. During this stretch, the Rays hold a 2.60 vs. 4.76 reliever ERA advantage. This is crucial considering both clubs tend to play close and low-scoring games. Thirteen of those 23 head-to-head victories have been decided by three runs or fewer.

A month ago, the Marlins’ bullpen struggles were well-chronicled. Now, the relief corps has become a strength.

Since May 12, Miami’s bullpen ranks as the following in MLB:

• Fourth-lowest ERA (2.44)
• Tied for sixth-highest WAR (0.9) entering Wednesday
• In 20 games, relievers allowed no runs half the time. In the other 10 games, they permitted three runs five times, two runs once and one run four times.

So what’s behind this turnaround?

“Ever since Puk got into the bullpen, it's really helped being able to match up with left and right lanes,” Schumaker said. “I'll be honest with you, I didn't know what Cronin was, and now I can use him in all kinds of different ways. The ball's on the ground constantly. He has strikeout stuff right, left, so I feel good about him where I didn't really know what he was honestly, coming into Spring Training.

“And now, he's one of the most-trusted guys out there, which is pretty awesome. You don't know what you get sometimes out of the bullpen, and ever since the first couple weeks of the season, they've really done a great job.”

The reintroduction of Puk, who has allowed one or more earned runs just once in nine relief outings, has eased the pressure off fellow lefties Nardi and closer Tanner Scott. Righty Huascar Brazoban, whose visa issues delayed his stateside arrival, deepens the unit even more. According to FanGraphs’ version of WAR, Nardi (0.5, T-15th) and righties Cronin and Faucher (0.4, T-23rd) are in the Top 30 among NL relievers.

Nardi has a 1.74 ERA (two earned runs in 10 1/3 innings) over his last 12 appearances. Cronin, whom Miami claimed off waivers in February, has a 0.48 ERA across his last 18 2/3 frames. Faucher has a 2.82 ERA this season after being slowed by a right shoulder impingement during Spring Training. Bender, who missed the 2023 season with Tommy John surgery, has been scored upon just once over his past 14 outings.

“I think guys are getting in grooves for sure,” said Faucher, who was acquired along with Vidal Bruján over the winter in a trade with Tampa Bay. “As the season kind of moves on, people figure out or guys figure out what is working, and stick to the routine and pitches that are working as well. And I think it's just that point in the season where everyone's finding what has been working.”

While the bullpen won’t throw it past batters (tied for 22nd in average fastball velocity at 93.3 mph), the unit induces the 10th-highest ground-ball rate (45.4 percent).

“That's a bullpen full of guys with good stuff,” catcher Nick Fortes said. “They go through their phases of getting ahead or falling behind and they've just been getting ahead recently and putting themselves in good spots to be able to use all their stuff properly.

“We've got some guys that are specific. They have good characteristics with their pitches or their deception, and that's where Skip comes into play and plays the matchups. And he does a good job of that. They've just been, all in all, doing a good job recently with matching it up and executing.”