JUPITER, Fla. -- When Marlins reliever Anthony Bass made his Grapefruit League debut on March 1, it marked the right-hander's seventh team in six seasons.

"I forget," Bass said over the phone recently. "People ask me, and I honestly don't know what number team this is for me. It's been a lot."

Here's a ballclub breakdown since his MLB career began:

San Diego (2011-13)
"The weather. Being on the beach. Beautiful place."

Houston (2014)
"They had really good seafood there. Landry's was the name of the restaurant. They just had really good crawfish down there in the south."

Texas (2015, '17)
"That's where I met my wife, so that's what stands out. We met in Dallas."

Hokkaido, Japan (2016)
"I just enjoyed the people, how friendly they were there, how safe it was. Did I say how clean it was?"

Chicago (2018)
"Just all of the history that's been played at Wrigley Field. They took very good care of my family, and the fanbase there is one of the best in baseball. They travel very well on the road. I felt like we never played an away game, so that was fun."

Cincinnati (2019)
Bass appeared in 19 games for the Reds' Triple-A team, but he never got called up to The Show before the organization released him.

Seattle (2019)
"I like Seattle a lot. I loved the ballpark, I loved where we're located in the country. The weather is beautiful as well. It doesn't get too hot or too cold, in my opinion. It's a pitcher's ballpark, which is nice. I like that."

Toronto (2020)
"Didn't really get to experience Toronto. I enjoyed my time with the organization, because it got me back to the postseason for the first time since 2015 with Texas, even though I wasn't on the playoff roster -- I was on their taxi squad in '16. Last year was fun because it gave me that hunger, that drive to get back."

Of all those stops, Japan proved to be the most impactful both on and off the field.

Five months after meeting, Anthony proposed to his girlfriend, Sydney, in Arizona during Spring Training. Shortly after, they eloped to the other side of the world. The pair would hold a wedding ceremony with family and friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the following January. Sydney knew what sort of lifestyle she was getting into, moving every couple of years as a self-described "military brat." Meeting new people and traveling to new towns as a child prepared her for the nomadic baseball life.

Because Anthony was part of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters' rotation in Nippon Professional Baseball, he was allowed to go home after the third inning of a game he wasn't pitching. That meant he could spend more time with Sydney, a luxury not afforded during the demanding Major League Baseball schedule. As a result, their relationship blossomed even more.

But keeping in touch with family back in the U.S. proved challenging, as the time difference constantly put them 12 hours ahead. The biggest shock, however, came at the grocery store. Bass would spend three hours googling what each packaging meant -- for items as basic as ketchup -- since he couldn't communicate with employees to ask for help.

"We even said if it weren't for the language barrier, we'd probably live in this country because we both enjoyed it so much," Anthony said.

On the field, it was the most fun Bass has had playing baseball. Angels star Shohei Ohtani, Braves reliever Chris Martin and Rangers right-hander Kohei Arihara were teammates of his in 2016. Bass, who calls Ohtani a "10-tool player" because he has all five tools on both sides of the game, even started developing his version of the Japanese star's splitter.

Considered his third offering, the 33-year-old Bass has turned to the splitter 12 times (21.4 percent) through three spring outings with the Marlins. Batters have yet to put the pitch in play, and it reached a maximum velocity of 89.4 mph in Monday's 7-7 tie with the Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. In 2020, when Bass led the Blue Jays with seven saves, he used it just 6.8 percent of the time.

"I was watching him throw, how he throws his, how he held his," Bass said of Ohtani. "I hold my split just like he does. His is obviously way better than mine, but it's a work in progress. But he showed me how he holds his, and I was watching how he used it in different counts to get guys to chase."

Across three scoreless innings in his new digs, Bass has permitted two hits, walked one batter and struck out two. Despite the lack of continuity in his career, he believes having different pitching coaches and playing for other organizations has been advantageous. The more sets of eyes the better when it comes to getting input.

Still, when Bass became a free agent over the offseason, the father of two young girls wanted a multiyear offer, and who could blame him? It's one thing to be an expert packer. The reality of settling into a new city every 162-game season is another. So Bass signed a two-year deal, with a club option for 2023, in January to call Miami home. He is a candidate to close for the Marlins' revamped bullpen.

During the winter, Bass resides in Nashville, Tenn., where Sydney's family lives. As fate would have it, Anthony always enjoyed his time in the city when his Minor League ballclub stopped there. Its central location makes for a conveniently short flight to visit his family in Michigan.

Influenced by his time in Japan, Bass tries to set up a date night for him and Sydney on off-days to escape the grind of baseball's long season. Sometimes it's a family event at a children's museum or a local festival. It's all about maintaining balance despite an atypical lifestyle. You certainly won't find him anywhere near the ballpark on the rare day off.

"My husband has given our family such a beautiful life filled with so many adventures," Sydney wrote in an email. "I got so excited when we started talking about the opportunity to come to Miami! We both felt like it was the perfect fit on and off the field. Our 3-year-old is already loving the beach life and counts down until daddy gets home from the field so they can go hunting for seashells together. We can’t wait for the season to start."