Miami Marlins need to put this pitcher in the bullpen immediately

The bullpen is a serious area of need for the Miami Marlins early in the season. Sixto Sanchez has especially been a problem, after looking like a potential future closer in Spring Training. With the 'pen desperately needing help, how about putting a struggling starting pitcher in there? I feel that I was right all along on the A.J. Puk as a starting pitcher experiment.

The Miami Marlins need to move A.J. Puk back to the bullpen.

A.J. Puk really wanted to be a starting pitcher this season. Despite his past injury issues and relative success as a reliever, Puk wanted more. The Fish decided to give it to him, by stretching him out in Spring Training and letting him pitch from the rotation due to the injuries affecting it. I thought that it was a questionable move and stand by it.

There's very little to like about A.J. Puk as a starting pitcher this season. He has a 5.91 ERA/6.88 FIP, with 6.8 K/9 and 11.8 BB/9, in 3 games and 10.2 innings pitched. It is somewhat of a small sample size, but it still looks atrocious to say the least. He's walking way too many batters and his strikeout rate is nothing special.

There's nothing in that 10 inning sample size, that makes A.J. Puk look like a quality starting pitcher. He seems to be completely out of his element and attempting to make it work. He was effective the last two seasons from the bullpen, pitching to a 3.51 ERA/3.64 FIP, with 11.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 120 games and 123.0 innings pitched. He was even a closer for a bit last season, accumulating 19 saves over the two years.

As long as The Fish's bullpen needs help, improving it should be one of the priorities. A.J. Puk could be a good arm in the late innings. He's certainly better at it than Sixto has been. With some of the injured pitchers coming back, it's time for Puk to go back to the only thing that he's actually good at: pitching from the bullpen. It's Puk time in the bullpen.