The Marlins are still alive in the Wild Card chase, but they’re running out of runway. With three weeks left, they sit four games behind the final spot, and the margin for error is razor-thin. That’s why the latest update on Anthony Bender stings so much.
Bender was supposed to throw off a mound this past weekend, according to the MLB.com injury tracker. Instead, he has stopped throwing and is headed for another re-evaluation. He had already made a rehab appearance on August 18, but the right shin soreness lingered afterward.
The right-hander first went on the 15-day injured list on June 30 because of a stress reaction in that shin, and at the time he was in the middle of a strong season. Before the injury, he had worked 34 1/3 innings with a 2.62 ERA. That mark was a little higher than last year’s 2.16, but the underlying shape of the season was better.
Last year, Bender’s 20.6% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate were not especially sharp. His ERA looked prettier than the skills behind it thanks to a .213 batting average on balls in play and an 82.7% strand rate.
This season, the luck has come back toward normal, but the performance has improved too. His BABIP and strand rate have moved closer to average, while his walk rate has dropped to 8.6% and his strikeout rate has jumped to 29.3%.
Miami has felt the difference in the bullpen. Through the end of June, Marlins relievers owned a 3.38 ERA, which ranked fifth in the majors.
Since then, that unit has posted a 5.03 ERA, fifth worst in the majors. Bender’s absence has been part of that slide, and while a return before season’s end would still help, that now looks less likely.
He has been out for more than 60 days, so a move to the 60-day IL could be coming, though the club already has an open 40-man spot.
There is better news on Pete Fairbanks. The right-hander recently faced live hitters and also threw what was described as a “bullpen-like” session. He is now expected to be reinstated from the IL on Wednesday.
Fairbanks’ season line still shows a 6.02 ERA, but that number comes with some bad fortune attached. His strand rate sits at 58%, and before the injury he had started to turn things around.
In his 11 most recent outings, he logged a 1.80 ERA and struck out 42.1% of hitters. Right median nerve irritation, an issue he has dealt with before, sent him to the injured list, but his stay there should be brief.
In the rotation, Max Meyer has finally started throwing again. He went on the IL on July 19 with a neck strain and has now missed more than seven weeks. It’s a positive step, but there isn’t much time left for him to ramp back up after such a long break, and even if he returns before the season ends, he won’t be fully stretched out.
The Marlins are currently rolling with Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez, Janson Junk, Tyler Phillips and Ryan Gusto in the rotation, and that group appears likely to carry the load the rest of the way.
Meyer’s case is different from Bender’s and Fairbanks’, because his issue is less about whether he can pitch and more about how much he can handle. He reached 111 innings in the minors in 2021.
Tommy John surgery limited him to 66 combined innings in 2022, and he missed all of 2023. He got to 115 combined innings in 2024 before hip surgery cut him back to 64 2/3 last year.
This season, he has already thrown 111 innings, which is easily the highest total of his big league career, even if it’s a workload range he has reached before when minor league innings are included.
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Sheffield finished with 42 homers that year, and that mark stood as the Marlins single-season record for 21 years. Even on a night when Miami came up short in a 2-1 loss to Montreal, with Marc Valdes taking the loss and Mark Leiter earning the win, the lasting memory was what Sheffield represented: a cornerstone power bat helping give the young franchise an identity of its own. [Read more 🡒]