Miami Marlins Depleted Rotation Takes Another Hit

Miami will select the contract of righty Kyle Tyler to replace Puk on the active roster. To make room on the 40-man roster, the team moved lefty Josh Simpson to the 60-day IL.

Puk will become the fourth Marlins starting pitcher on the injured list, joining Sandy Alcántara, Braxton Garrett, and Eury Pérez. The team expects Puk and Garrett to return likely before the All-Star break, while Alcántara and Pérez will miss the season with Tommy John surgery.

Miami Marlins Place A.J. Puk on Injured List

The IL placement comes a day after Puk gave up seven earned runs in three innings against the Chicago Cubs. It was his first start in 10 days, thanks to the flu. While it’s nice to think Puk struggled due to illness or shoulder fatigue, his performance was a continuation of a rough start to the 2024 season.

In four starts, the 28-year-old owns a 9.22 ERA in 13 2/3 innings, thanks largely to a league-leading 17 walks and 12 strikeouts. Additionally, Puk just isn’t fooling hitters. Although they are not making hard contact against him, they’re also not whiffing, chasing, or striking out against his pitches.

If Puk can survive his astronomically high walk rate (22.1 percent), he will need to strike hitters out and get double plays. Unfortunately, his ground ball and strikeout rates are both among the league-worst.

While Puk was never guaranteed to have immediate success in his return to the rotation, his struggles follow an electric spring performance. In four starts, Puk threw 13 2/3 innings with a 1.32 ERA. Furthermore, he stuck out 23 while walking only four. Fans know not to trust Spring Training performance fully, but the stark difference in Puk’s performance is staggering.

It’s unclear when Puk started feeling fatigue in his shoulder, but it was not a problem in Spring Training.

A.J. Puk Starting Pedigree

Puk was a top starting pitching prospect in the Oakland Athletics system. However, arm injuries slowed his development, and Oakland decided to break him into the majors in the bullpen. The move worked well as Puk thrived in 2022 in Oakland and again in 2023 with Miami.

Last season, Puk displayed a career-best walk rate (5.4 percent) and strikeout rate (32.2 percent) while picking up 15 saves. However, the Marlins decided to use him as a starter this season to get the most value possible out of the former sixth-overall pick.

With his injury history, a shoulder issue for Puk is not ideal during his first season as a starter in multiple years. It might be too early to give up on this project, but the outlook does not seem great.