Miami Marlins: Get to Know New Marlin RHP Austin Pruitt

When the Miami Marlins traded closer Yimi Garcia to the Houston Astros on Wednesday, the headline return for the Marlins was obviously 24-year old outfielder Bryan De La Cruz.

However, Miami also received another player in that deal in 31-year old right-handed pitcher Austin Pruitt. Unlike De La Cruz, Pruitt has been in the big leagues for multiple years, and could be a bullpen option for Miami going forward.

Get to know new Miami Marlins pitcher Austin Pruitt.

Pruitt was originally selected in the 9th Round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays coming off a strong two seasons at Houston posting a combined 3.47 ERA working as a starter. With Pruitt 23-years old at the time, the right-hander instantly began his professional career in the Rays organization in A-Ball where he quickly impressed posting a combined 1.44 ERA between Low-A and High-A splitting time as a starter and reliever.

Going back to a more full-time starter role, Pruitt would go on to post a sub-4.00 ERA across three seasons from 2014-2016 in a combined 80 games between Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. The right-hander started in all but one of those 80 games, which also included four complete games and one complete-game shutout.

After an impressive start to the Triple-A season in 2017, Pruitt would receive his first big league call-up with the Rays where he posted a 5.31 ERA over 83 IP splitting time between the bullpen and rotation. Splitting time between Triple-A Durham and Tampa Bay during the 2018 and 2019 seasons in a similar role, Pruitt showed improvement in the big leagues, but still struggled posting an ERA north of 4+ in both.

Pruitt would be traded by Tampa Bay in January of 2020 to the Houston Astros, however he would not see action with Houston in the big leagues during the shortened 2020 season. So far during the 2021 season, Pruitt has split time between the minor leagues and the majors allowing two earned runs over 2.2 IP with the Astros this season.

While unknown what role Miami will use him in to begin, Pruitt is a player that has both extensive experience between the starting rotation and the bullpen. Still under team control for multiple years, the 31-year old right-hander does a strong job at limiting walks, evident by a career 5.8 BB% in the big leagues.

While Miami potentially got a player in return in De La Cruz that can help their lineup immediately, it certainly appears that they got another in Pruitt that will help in the bullpen as well. Also, while Pruitt has starting experience, it’s likely the 31-year old will resume a long-relief role in the Miami Marlins bullpen going forward.