Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker was reluctant to name a conventional closer coming out of Spring Training. The way he spun it was, “we will use our best guys against their best hitters.” Reading between the lines, the real message was, “we’re unsure if any of our relievers can be consistent in high-leverage situations.”
A.J. Puk has quickly made himself Skip’s go-to guy. Puk has finished the game in all seven of his Marlins regular season appearances, including three converted saves. Since Pete Alonso took him deep in his 2023 debut, the tall left-hander hasn’t allowed any other extra-base hits.