The Marlins placed reliever Anthony Bender on the 15-day injured list with a stress reaction in his right shin. Zach Brzykcy is up from Triple-A Jacksonville to take his place in the bullpen. Miami also optioned Graham Pauley to open a spot for Liam Hicks, who returns from the 10-day injured list.
It’s a tough loss for the Miami bullpen. Bender is having arguably the best season of his career, working to a 2.62 earned run average across 34 1/3 innings. He has fanned a personal-high 29.3% of opponents against an 8.6% walk rate, recording eight holds and a pair of saves. Bender has been particularly effective after a middling April, allowing just three runs across 22 1/3 frames going back to May 1.
That strong run has deservedly pressed Bender into more meaningful situations. He pitched mostly in middle relief for the first two months. Bender has entered in the highest-leverage spots of any Miami reliever in June. He’s third on the team in holds behind Michael Petersen and Calvin Faucher.
Miami’s relief group doesn’t have a ton of big names outside of closer Pete Fairbanks, who hasn’t had a good season. They’ve nevertheless been one of the better bullpens in the league, ranking fifth in ERA (3.25) and fourth in strikeout rate (24.2%). They’re one of four teams with a bullpen ERA under 3.00 this month, a big factor in their 19-6 showing that has pulled them right back into the NL Wild Card picture.
The Marlins didn’t provide a timeline on Bender’s return. He suffered this same injury in the middle of August last year and was immediately ruled out for the season. The Fish were more or less out of the playoff picture at that point (though they’d technically remain alive into the regular season’s final weekend), so it’s possible last season’s shutdown was an abundance of caution. Petersen, Faucher, Lake Bachar and southpaw John King profile as Miami’s setup group in the interim.
