Did the bullpen cost the Miami Marlins our season?

Bullpens are volatile and unfortunately the Miami Marlins have felt that sad reality this season. I wrote about some of the bullpen issues that we had this season. Our bullpen was a serious issue this season. It has 18 blown saves. 18. 26 saves and 18 blown saves… Let’s get deeper into this situation.

The Miami Marlins would’ve been in a playoff position if it wasn’t for our bullpen.

The fact that the Miami Marlins have 18 blown saves is mind-boggling. That’s 18 late-game leads that The Fish blew. If we even won only half of those games, our record would’ve been 56-43. Think about that for a second. The bullpen more so than hitting has cost us a playoff berth this season.

The obvious inference that we can make from the above is that the bullpen was badly built. Right? Nope. The bullpen was actually very promising and looked like a strength for the team.

Two of the relief pitchers that the Miami Marlins acquired were Tanner Scott and Cole Sulser. Scott had a 1.31 ERA/3.48 FIP in 25 games and 20.2 innings in 2020 for the Baltimore Orioles. In 2021 he had a 5.17 ERA/4.41 FIP in 62 games and 54 innings. That was a problem that so far persisted for us upon his arrival this season, as he currently has a 4.43 ERA/3.50 FIP in 45 games and 42.2 innings.

Cole Sulser had a 2.70 ERA/2.98 FIP in 60 games and 63.1 innings last season in a Baltimore. It was reasonable to expect more from him this season with the Miami Marlins, but he’s currently injured and has a 3.86 ERA/3.29 FIP in 26 games and 23.1 innings.

Anthony Bender was interesting for the Miami Marlins last season. He had a 2.79 ERA/3.19 FIP in 60 games and 61.1 innings last season. This season he has a 4.50 ERA/5.34 FIP in 16 games and 14 innings. He’s also currently on the injured list.

Dylan Floro was another headache for the Miami Marlins this season. He had a 2.81 ERA/2.81 FIP in 68 games and 64 innings for is last season. This season he has a 3.49 ERA/3.26 FIP in 30 games and 28.1 innings. He also spent significant time on the injured list early in the season. It seems to me that bad luck definitely plagued these guys.

The Miami Marlins were victims of volatile bullpens this season. A lot of these players should bounce back and when they do things will be looking up and this storm of bad luck will clear up.