The Miami Marlins made a bullpen change on Sunday morning, designating left-hander John King for assignment to clear a spot for right-hander Jack Ralston.
It closes the book on a stretch that started well for King and then unraveled after a July ankle injury. He was one of five major league free agent signings the Marlins made over the offseason, and for most of the first half he was the best of that group. In 40 innings across 40 appearances, King put up a 2.48 ERA and 3.93 FIP while stranding 23 of 25 inherited baserunners.
Since coming back from the injury, though, the results have gone the other way. King has appeared 10 times since then and owns a 10.24 ERA and 8.67 FIP in that span. In August, he has a 13.50 ERA, and his only clean inning in the month came in his first outing.
Before the move, manager Clayton McCullough spoke highly of King and made clear the decision was about the current shape of the bullpen.
"I got John probably on a Mount Rushmore of teammates. What a pro," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said pregame.
"John pitched a lot and I asked him to pitch even some times when it probably wasn't the most advantageous. It was about the team, and John always just took the ball and had no ego.
This decision for me just came down to looking at our where we are now in this season and the group we have down in the 'pen."
McCullough also said King had slipped down the depth chart from his earlier role as Miami’s top left-on-left option. Lately, he has been used only in "down games" that had already gotten out of hand. "That's not a great spot for him, and I think for us, it just didn't make a lot of sense, either."
The Marlins could have kept King under control through the 2027 season through arbitration, but he would have been in line for a raise from the $1.5 million salary he made this year. Miami decided not to go that route.
With King gone, Pete Fairbanks is now the lone offseason free agent signing still on the roster, and Cade Gibson is the only left-handed pitcher on Miami’s active roster.
Ralston steps into the bullpen after turning in strong numbers at Triple-A. In 39 appearances this season, he posted a 1.66 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 11.31 K/9 and 4.37 BB/9. The Marlins added him to the 40-man roster on August 3.
President of baseball operations Peter Bendix pointed to Ralston earlier as a case of the front office identifying a pitcher in minor league free agency, spotting traits it liked and working with him on specific adjustments.
"They got on phone calls with Jack, explained to him why we were interested, what we wanted to do and got Jack's buy-in, and then they executed," Bendix said. "Jack was the one who actually made those changes, executed on it and continued to get better."
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