Marlins add bullpen depth last week

The Miami Marlins acquired reliever Josh Smith off waivers over the weekend from the Cleveland Indians to potentially help the bullpen in 2020.

It wasn’t publicized much, but the Miami Marlins did make a move to strengthen its bullpen for the 2020 season this past week.

The team announced it has acquired left-hander Josh Smith off waivers Saturday from the Indians. The 29-year-old spent time between the Indians Triple-A affiliate and the parent club this year, as Chris Haft of MLB.com explained.

“Smith, 29, has demonstrated a knack for collecting strikeouts. He struck out 74 batters in 52 2/3 innings while posting an 8-1 record with a 2.73 ERA in 41 appearances this year for Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, Ohio,” he wrote on MLB.com.“With Cleveland, Smith compiled a 5.40 ERA in eight appearances to go with 12 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings.”

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The front office will take any help they can get if it means the team will improve on its 52-98 from this season so far and the 64-98 record in 2018.

The Marlins figure to make moves this offseason and in Spring Training which will affect the pitching staff. The talk all season has been about the strength of the starting rotation and the depth in the minor league system. There has been little talk about the bullpen, which has needed depth and consistency this season.

Miami made a flurry of moves at the MLB Trade Deadline which have changed the look of the pitching staff, especially in the bullpen. It started with the team sending Sergio Romo to the Minnesota Twins for first baseman Lewin Diaz. The team traded starter Zac Gallen to Arizona for shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm. Trevor Richards and Nick Anderson, who were both relievers when they were traded by the front office, moved across the state to Tampa Bay in exchange for outfielder Jesus Sanchez and Ryne Stanek.

The ball club also got some help from the return of Jose Urena, who is now the team’s closer and Pablo Lopez, who returned to the rotation.

“We’re trying to get better any way we can, even if it’s in small increments,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said following the news of the deal with Smith.

The team is 20th in the Majors with a team ERA of 4.71, 12th in the National League.