The Marlins Bullpen Is Set to Turn Heads in 2026
For the first time in what feels like forever, the Marlins are entering a season with a solid trio at the back end of their bullpen.
It has been quite some time since the Miami Marlins have had a “secure” back-end of the bullpen option. What I mean by the word “secure” is that this is the first time, in a long time, that they have someone penciled in to fill the closer’s role heading into Opening Day.
Much has already been said, my work here included, about the Marlins over-performing in 2025. The results at the end of the year were so different from what the pre-season projections said that it may feel as if the current win total projection at 72.5 wins on BetMGM is proving that the market is starting to give the Marlins the respect they deserve as they look to improve on the 79-win season they had last year.
The Marlins have been quite active this offseason. While, for the most part, they are known to be more “sellers” than “buyers”, this offseason proved to be the continued “re-shaping” of the organization. While the two starting pitcher trades are notable, there was one move made that I do not believe has gotten the proper recognition that it deserved.
Marlins Ink Pete Fairbanks to a One-Year Deal
Former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks entered the free agent market this offseason after having his $11 million option declined by the Tampa Bay Rays. Which was not truly seen as a surprise by many, including Fairbanks himself.
After Edwin Díaz, there was a real argument as to who would be seen as the second-best reliever on the free agent market. While there were the Devin Williams, Robert Suarezs, and Ryan Helsleys of the world, neither of them truly separated them from each other. The difference between them and Fairbanks is that he is the only one to have signed a one-year deal with his new team.
The Marlins and Fairbanks reached a one-year, $13 million agreement back on Dec. 28.
The reason why I do not believe the notability matches what this truly means for a Marlins ballclub, is because it was a direct response to Bendix’s claim at the opening press conference of the offseason. At the time, he said that he was going to look to bring in a true backend option for their bullpen. Looks like he’s pulled that off nicely.
The 32-year-old reliever is entering his eighth season in the big leagues, the first time since his eight-game stint in Texas back in 2019 that he is not going to be calling Tropicana Field home. That is obviously excluding the Rays playing at George Steinbrenner Field in 2025 after the damage done to Tropicana during the hurricane.
Fairbanks was looking for a bounce-back year in 2025 after a disappointing 2024. He pitched to a 2.83 ERA across 60.1 innings pitched. The one number that did not return to form would be his strikeout rate, which was the second-lowest K/9 (8.8) he has put up in his career.
Nonetheless, Fairbanks is coming off career-highs in innings pitched and saves last season.
Why this is big for the Marlins heading into 2026 is that it shows true leadership and direction for a fan base that has been in desperate need of clarity. Tanner Scott aside, this is the first time the Marlins have had a true go-to closer since the peak of A.J. Ramos and Steve Cishek’s powers during their time in Miami.
While he has never been a 30-games saved closer, you can attribute much of that to the Rays and how they traditionally deploy their bullpen to execute against matchups rather than using a true closer.
If allowed to be the go-to guy each time, I personally have no doubts he would have eclipsed that mark multiple times. As it is, he had two seasons in the last three where he had at least 25 saves.
The Build Up
Aside from Fairbanks, the Marlins’ late-inning options could be considered a couple of the better ones across baseball, even if the names aren’t considered notable.
The Marlins had only one reliever eclipse 10 saves: Calvin Faucher.
A similarity between Fairbanks and Faucher is that both of them spent time with Bendix in Tampa before joining the Marlins.
Faucher entered the 2025 season coming off a career-best 2024 season, pitching to a 3.19 ERA across 53.2 innings. In those 53 games he appeared in, he was able to earn six saves. The jump to 15 in 2025 was notable simply in entering the offseason. It became even more relevant after the news of their high-leverage weapon, Ronny Henriquez, undergoing Tommy John surgery early in the offseason.
There is reason to believe the Marlins would have been comfortable utilizing Faucher as their primary ninth-inning option if they struck out on any of the top options on the relief pitcher market.
After Faucher, there is, arguably, one of the most entertaining relief pitchers in all of baseball simply based on how he enters a game.
Tyler Phillips, though you may not recognize the name, is known as the relief pitcher who likes to hit himself in the face to hype himself up as he emerges from the bullpen.
The 2025 season was Phillips’ true opportunity to prove that he is a major league pitcher after he was claimed by the Marlins, following being designated for assignment by the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of spring training.
In 77.2 innings pitched, Phillips pitched to a 2.78 ERA, recorded four saves, and found himself pitching in high-leverage situations seemingly throughout the entirety of the season. He is another pitcher that the Marlins are going to look to depend on in similar spots as they look to improve on their 79-game win mark from last year.
The intrigue does continue past those two, though. Anthony Bender has been with the Marlins for quite some time, also with high leverage experience, and the Marlins have always refrained from moving him at trade deadlines despite interest from other teams.
Even for the most pessimistic Marlins fan, you have to have your interest at least piqued by what this Marlins bullpen can be as they look to kick off the 2026 season in just a couple of weeks. The pitching staff as a whole seemed to have made a world of leaps in their first season post-Mel Stottlemyre Jr. era in Miami.
Become a Member of Just Baseball
Subscribe and upgrade to go ad-free!
* Save 25% by subscribing annually.
Written by
Cristian has been at Just Baseball since 2021, when he first started writing about prospects. He spent eight years working in Major League Baseball with the…