Examining where things stand with the Miami Marlins’ bullpen heading into the offseason

With the Miami Marlins’ 2022 season in the books, it’s time to start taking stock on where the organization stands, where improvements need to be made and how that can be done. Over the course of this week, the Miami Herald will break down the team by position groups. Today, the focus is on the bullpen.

While the Marlins have stability and quality depth in their starting rotation, their relief pitcher corps is another story.

Despite minimal moves prior to the season, the group started out the season looking promising before a combination of long-term injuries, underperformance and trades thinned the group down the stretch.

Here’s a closer look at where Miami’s bullpen stands.

Who closes?

The Marlins don’t have a proven closer on their roster, but Dylan Floro is the closest thing to it barring a big-name acquisition this offseason.

Floro ended the 2021 season as Miami’s closer, converting 15 of 21 save opportunities, and likely would have held that role for all of 2022 if his spring training wasn’t derailed by right rotator cuff tendonitis and missed the first month of the season as a result. By the time he was in proper form, Tanner Scott had assumed the closer role. Floro re-assumed the closer role in early September and posted a 1.26 ERA with seven saves in nine opportunities over his final 14 outings. Stretching back even further, Floro had a 1.77 ERA over his final 37 appearances, the majority of which were high leverage, after pitching to a 5.50 ERA in his first 19 outings.

Floro is under team control for one more season and is projected to make $4.2 million.

A lot of left-handed leverage arms

With Anthony Bender out next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and Anthony Bass and Zach Pop traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in August, Miami’s main group of high-leverage relievers outside of Floro is a trio left-handed pitchers in Scott, Steven Okert and Richard Bleier.

Scott served as Miami’s closer for most of the season. He has the mentality and the stuff to handle the role, evidenced by his 20 saves in 27 opportunities and his 35.7-percent swing-and-miss rate that ranked in the 96th percentile of MLB this season. His issue? Walks. Lots of them. Scott walked 46 of the 289 batters he faced this season — nearly 16 percent. Scott is heading into his second arbitration year and is projected to have a $2.7 million salary for 2023.

Okert, 31, is under team control for four more seasons and was steady in a set-up role for the Marlins this season before ending the season on the injured list with left triceps tightness. But like Scott, Okert’s walk rate was bad — 11.8 percent.

Bleier, who signed a two-year deal in spring training that runs through the 2023 season and includes an option for 2024, had a 5.59 ERA at the end of June before pitching to a 2.30 ERA over his final 31 appearances.

Who else is left?

The rest of Miami’s main bullpen arms from the season includes righties Cole Sulser, Huascar Brazoban, Tommy Nance and Jeff Brigham as well as lefty Andrew Nardi.

Sulser and Brigham are both arbitration eligible this offseason, with Sulser projected to make $1 million in 2023 and Brigham $800,000.

Sulser, acquired along with Scott from the Baltimore Orioles via trade just before the start of the season, pitched in high leverage situations early in the season before being sidelined for two months from mid-June to mid-August with a right lat strain. He struggled during his month back, pitching to an 8.44 ERA before being optioned to Triple A Jacksonville in mid-September.

Brigham returned to MLB after a nearly two-year injury hiatus and posted a 3.38 ERA with 28 strikeouts against 10 walks over 24 innings.

Brazoban became Miami’s primary high-leverage right-handed pitcher outside of Floro over the final two months of the season following the Bass and Pop trade and Bender’s injury. The 32-year-old rookie, who spent the past four years playing in various leagues not affiliated with MLB before signing a minor-league deal with the Marlins this offseason, pitched to a 3.09 ERA with 40 strikeouts over 32 innings.

Nance posted a 4.33 ERA over 35 appearances, striking out 57 over 43 2/3 innings and was mainly used in middle relief. Nardi went through his lumps in his first taste of the big leagues, pitching to a 9.82 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 14 2/3 innings.

Who’s available on the market?

The top free-agent relievers set to head to free agency this offseason are 29-year-old Edwin Diaz (1.31 ERA, 32 saves in 35 opportunities in 2022 with the Mets), 34-year-old Craig Kimbrel (3.75 ERA, 22 saves in 27 opportunities in 2022 with the Dodgers), 35-year-old Kenley Jansen (3.38 ERA, 41 saves in 48 opportunities in 2022 with the Braves) and 32-year-old Taylor Rogers (4.76 ERA, 31 saves in 41 opportunities in 2022 with the Padres and Brewers).