The Marlins revealed back in December that they planned to stretch lefty A.J. Puk out and plug him back into a starting role after he’s spent his entire career to date in the bullpen. Puk, a former standout starter at the University of Florida and a starter for most of his minor league tenure, is now “a frontrunner” to claim the fourth spot in Miami’s rotation, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.
Puk will turn 29 in April. He’s never made a big league start but has started 42 games in the minors — most coming early in his tenure. The former No. 6 overall draft pick (2016) moved to the bullpen in 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery the year prior. Puk took well to that relief role, debuting in the majors with 11 1/3 innings late in 2019. He held opponents to four runs on ten hits and five walks with 13 strikeouts — good for a 3.18 ERA. He looked to have locked up a spot on the 2020 roster, but Puk experienced shoulder pain the following spring and wound up missing the season due to an eventual debridement surgery.
The 2021 season was a rough one for Puk, though that’s not entirely surprising for a pitcher who’d undergone Tommy John surgery and shoulder surgery within 24 months of each other. He split the year between Triple-A and the big leagues, posting an ERA north of 6.00 in both settings. The 2022 campaign finally brought a breakout for the talented but snakebitten southpaw; he pitched 66 1/3 innings out of the Oakland bullpen and worked to a 3.12 ERA with a 27% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate and 43.4% ground-ball rate.
The A’s, by then in the midst of a complete rebuild, traded Puk to the Marlins in exchange for outfielder JJ Bleday — another former top-10 overall pick (No. 4) who’d not yet lived up to the expectations associated with that lofty draft status. It worked out nicely for the Fish. In 56 2/3 frames, Puk logged a 3.97 ERA with far more encouraging secondary marks: 32.2% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate, 15.1% swinging-strike rate, 2.66 SIERA. Puk wound up leading the Marlins with 15 saves.
Clearly encouraged by the per-inning strength of those results, the Marlins will now try to maximize Puk’s workload by moving him into a starting role. Much has been made of the Marlins’ enviable pitching depth over the years, but Puk’s move to the rotation is in part due to the fact that Miami’s stash of promising young arms is no longer as deep as it once was.
Sandy Alcantara underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2024 season. Pablo Lopez was traded to the Twins in exchange for Luis Arraez. Braxton Garrett is behind schedule in camp due to a shoulder issue and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day. Top prospects Sixto Sanchez and Max Meyer have been slowed by injuries. Sanchez, in particular, hasn’t pitched since 2020. Another touted arm, Jake Eder, was traded to the White Sox for Jake Burger. Southpaw Trevor Rogers has struggled through injuries and poor results since his second-place finish in the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year voting.
If Puk is able to successfully move back into a starting role, it’d obviously be a boon for the Fish. It’s a move that could reap long-term benefits, too, as Puk is controllable through the 2026 season. The Marlins will presumably be careful with his workload after the lefty pitched just 59 1/3 innings last year between the majors and a brief minor league rehab assignment following a nerve issue in his elbow. But if he can progress to pitching 100-plus innings this year, it’s easier to envision any restrictions being removed for the 2025 campaign.
There’s some risk to the move, of course. Puk has a lengthy injury history and is no guarantee to hold up with a full rotation workload. By moving him to the starting staff, Miami is also notably weakening its relief corps. The Puk transition bodes well for Tanner Scott, who’ll likely spend his entire platform season before free agency as the Marlins’ closer. But beyond Scott, the Fish will rely on a series of arms with short track records and/or notable injury histories. Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender, JT Chargois and George Soriano all have had big league success but have all yet to establish themselves as consistent, year-to-year performers.
Assuming the Marlins indeed stick with this plan, Puk will slot into the rotation behind Jesus Luzardo, Eury Perez and Edward Cabrera. The aforementioned Rogers and fellow lefty Ryan Weathers are the leading candidates for the fifth spot, Jackson notes, with Rogers a likelier fit than Weathers. Sanchez, once viewed as a rotation building block, is out of minor league options but figures to head to the bullpen if he’s healthy enough to make the roster. Whoever grabs the fifth spot will essentially be a placeholder for Garrett anyhow. That said, given workload concerns for Puk and the general frequency with which pitchers get injured, it’s likely that all of Puk, Rogers, Garrett and Weathers will wind up starting a fair share of games in South Florida this season.
He’ll be injured by the third inning.
Can you give me the winning Powerball numbers?
Not until you’ve earned them.
Even if he could, would you want them posted on a public forum? You’d win the lottery, but have to share the top prize with thousands of others to where you might get $20 out of the deal.
I’d say this move has a low percentage chance of working, but they might as well try.
Why the Puk not, amirite?
Perchance.
Sixto Sanchez hasn’t pitched since 2020? Wow, that’s a shame. He was supposed to be a stud. He’s only 25 so hopefully it all works out for him.
I doubt it. He lost a ton of velocity and I don’t see him working as a starter at all and building up the innings but who knows.
@Hole he pitched 1 single inning last season, the only inning he’s pitched since 2020. Think it’s a little premature to formulate any type of opi ion on the guy.
He’s only 25 and he struck out 2 in that single inning last Sept, so there is some hope for him.
He was over hyped too. Philis sold high on him
Baseball history is littered with guys that were “supposed to be a stud.” That is the main reason I am not a fan of prospecting. You aren’t a stud until you are a stud in the majors. I’d rather enjoy the guys who have made it instead of constantly hoping the next crop might be better all the time.
I agree with your mindset hiflew on prospects, but you cannot have that mindset as front office personnel… At some point you have to put a little faith in prospects to make it, financially.
Depends on which franchise you work for really. If you work for the A’s or Rays, you pretty much have to have that philosophy. But if you work for the Yankees or Dodgers, you can trade every prospect you ever get for small market stars. If you are wrong and the prospects work out, you can just trade different prospects for them when the small market cannot afford them in 3-4 years. Small market teams HAVE to have their prospects work out to be successful, but big markets just have to have them hyped enough to lead a big deal.
He’s fat now. Basically, he underwent the Bartolo Colon treatment.
And it is amazing the article states he is out of options. After only 39 MLB career innings back in 2020? How does that happen?
Good. He’s looked really good this spring.
Last year, even though he was in the bullpen, his FRA was 3.02, meaning he underperformed his actual ERA of 3.97. I think there is potential here as he’s dropped his BB% and raised his K%. This might take a slight hit in 2024, given he has to go more than one or two innings but I think there is potential there for a good 2024 season. Marlins, like the Mariners, have a lot of good pitching but can’t build a good offensive lineup.
I thought I follow baseball fairly closely but I have no idea what “FRA” is…when “Old” York is ahead of you on the analytics, you know it’s time to go back to school.
Agreed, what is it? Tell us OY!
Boy, the Marlins can’t catch a pukin break
Good luck in your new role, Mr. Puk!
He join an Asian travel league so he can fulfill his lifetime goal of donkeypunching women in every country in Asia.
Lots of “ICFTB” members here.
(“Involuntary Celibates for Trevor Bauer”)
How’s your wife and my kids.
@MannyBeingMVP
So, they’re being forced to abstain from it on behalf of TB?
Maybe it’s time to go back to school… I understand, the U.S. education system is pretty terrible.
I imagine Trevor Bauer is the least of their problems and i also imagine that while they may be celibate, it’s not involuntary…
@manny they need someone to vicariously live through. Same losers that j/o to trad wife content while looking like a sack of cottage cheese.
If he doesn’t receive vindication it means personality might matter, which would spell doom for their aspirations.
Puk and JJ Bleday are not just “former top-10 overall picks”
They are top 6.
But we always focus on round numbers.
Puk was the right pick. Bleday had bust wrote all over him
False. Trevor Bauer is not the best pitcher in the world. Also, he claimed he wrote Careless Whisper by George Michael. And that’s just not something I can get behind.
I thought sanchez was gonna be in rotation since he can’t be sent down. Marlins have no lack of options
He’ll probably start out the season in the pen as they build him back up.
Marlins look to be having difficulty with the SPs this year.. Playoff team ????
What could possibly go wrong here?? For a team that was supposed to be carried by their pitching staff this does not look promising.
Go Gators
Sanchez may be ready after a start or two that Puk successfully makes before his next injury. Maybe they plan to piggyback them?
Don’t get this move, Puk fell off something terrible towards the end of year, why he was replaced as closer. The answer to that have him throw more inning? Weathers has looked good this spring thought for sure he’d be in the rotation over Puk.
Come on, Adams. There should be no comma before “too.” That’s an archaic rule.