How are Peter Bendix's acquisitions doing?

[Alex Krutchik]

Taking an updated look at the production that has come from major league players who've been acquired by the Marlins during Peter Bendix's first year as president of baseball operations.

The lack of a big splash signing this past offseason made Peter Bendix a much-maligned figure in the eyes of Marlins fans. Coming off their first postseason since 2003, the first-year president of baseball operations made few moves to improve the roster, and whatever acquisitions he did make were mostly fringe pieces with not much expected impact.

So far, the results have been...mixed. Some have found a solid role and perhaps a future in Miami past 2024, while others look to be in jeopardy of reaching the end of their major league careers unless they substantially improve.

The Bendix acquisitions featured below are those who have spent the majority of the regular season on the Marlins active roster.

 

Vidal Bruján

Yes, we’re only three months into the season, but Bruján already experienced a rebirth of sorts from the beginning of the year to now. 

Traded to the Marlins from the Tampa Bay Rays over the offseason, Bruján didn’t look particularly good in spring training. He still made the Opening Day roster, due to a combination of needed infield depth and the fact that he had zero remaining minor league options, necessitating a waiver if the Marlins sent him to the minors to begin the year.

Bruján's regular season looked like more of his spring in the first month. In his first 16 games of 2024, his playing time was sparse. He was mostly a late-inning substitute and made seven starts. With that inconsistent playing time, he hit .087 (2-for-23) with a double.

Beginning April 26 against the Washington Nationals, Bruján began getting more consistent starts, and immediately turned his season around. The 26-year-old went 6-for-11 with two triples in his three starts that series. 

From April 26 until May 20—the span in which he had the most consistent playing time this season—he slashed .320/.378/.480.

Defensively, he’s spent a lot of his time at shortstop, especially while Tim Anderson was on the injured list in mid-May with a back issue. His defense at shortstop has gotten progressively better, posting exactly zero outs above average in 162 innings according to Baseball Savant.

At third base, that number goes down to negative-four, despite playing just 67 innings there.

Since Anderson’s return to the lineup, Bruján has mostly found himself at second base, with spot starts at shortstop and third base. Offensively, he has fallen back down to earth with his limited playing time, posting a .211/.286/.263 in seven games and five starts since May 26.

 

Otto Lopez

Lopez has been one of the biggest success stories for the Marlins in this young season. The Marlins acquired him in early April after he was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants. In seven games with Triple-A Jacksonville, he posted a .566 average (15-for-27) with four doubles, two home runs, and just two strikeouts.

After being called up to the big leagues on April 15, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said he “doesn’t know anything about him.” It’s hard to blame him. Lopez had a meteoric rise to the majors that isn’t often seen, especially for someone who isn’t a top prospect.

But Lopez still hasn’t cooled off from his minor league hot streak. With Miami, he’s slashing .295/.324/.421 in 35 games. He’s only striking out at a 16.7 percent clip, which is six points better than league average.

His early-season run came to a peak when he hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning against the New York Mets on May 18.

Lopez’s slash line in his first 16 games was especially eye-catching, posting a .321/.387.607.

The Dominican righty has had 102 plate appearances so far this year. The league has had time to thoroughly scout and adjust to him, yet still, he has managed to maintain his production.

Before being put on paternity leave on June 7 for the birth of his daughter, Lopez was riding a six-game hitting streak in which he went 9-for-22 with four RBI and a walk.

 

Nick Gordon

Gordon's role on the Fish has been well-defined: he is their starting left fielder against right-handed pitchers and a late-game pinch-hitter when Schumaker wants to gain the platoon advantage with his team trailing.

Slashing .234/.261/.380, Gordon is producing slightly below his career norms, though he is on pace for 15 homers, which would be a new personal best.

Like many members of the 2024 Marlins, Gordon has been prone to hitting balls on the ground. His groundball rate is 55.3%, compared to a 40.5 GB% in his breakout 2022 campaign. He would find more success be increasing his launch angle.

 

Christian Bethancourt

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who had a worse start to his Marlins career than Christian Bethancourt. The catcher that the Marlins acquired from the Cleveland Guardians began the season with zero hits in his first 29 at-bats. 

But just before their first west coast road trip in early May, Bethancourt, made some adjustments to his swing, and started feeling himself in Oakland.A right-handed hitter, Bethancourt discovered the kink in his swing while taking practice hacks as from the left side of the plate with hitting coach John Mabry just before said road trip.

The former Rays catcher was born a lefty, but said he became a righty in kindergarten. During his time in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2019, Bethancourt said he’d take practice swings as a lefty before beginning his right-handed swings.

“They're big on using both hands and both obliques so you don't get hurt," Bethancourt said of Korea. “And then from there, I always take a few swings left-handed.”

Bethancourt started to feel better at the plate for a few games without the results to show for it. But he finally broke out in the series finale against Oakland and into the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves, going 6-for-14 with two doubles. Since then, he has cooled off a bit, but is certainly still clearing the low bar he set in March and April. Though, it would be hard to do worse.

The 32-year-old is throwing out base-stealers at a 23-percent clip, which is right in the middle of 61 qualified catchers. But his arm strength (85.0 MPH) is top of the league, while his pop time (1.90 seconds) is tied for ninth.

Bethancourt is under club control for 2025 via arbitration. His overall offensive output (.155/.200/.239 slash line in 77 PA) must get better for the Marlins to tender him a contract.

 

Emmanuel Rivera

Rivera essentially replaced Jon Berti when the latter was traded to the New York Yankees on Opening Day eve. Similar to Bethancourt, he was a glorified waiver claim acquired in exchange for cash considerations.

Also similar to Bethancourt, Rivera has struggled at the plate. Specifically, his power has gradually diminished. The Puerto Rican corner infielder went from 12 home runs in 102 games during the 2022 season, to four homers in 86 games last season, to none through his first 45 Marlins appearances. Miami counted on him to put together quality at-bats against left-handers. However, his production this year is virtually the same regardless of the opposing pitcher's handedness.

Rivera's glovework at third base is roughly league average.

 

Tim Anderson

Bendix's "big" acquisition (relatively speaking) was taking a $5M flier on Anderson, the former AL All-Star and batting champ whose production had cratered in 2023. Still just 30 years old, the Marlins hoped his prime had not entirely passed him by and improved health combined with a change of scenery could turn him into a starting-caliber player at a position of need.

The bar was so low—by some measures, the Marlins had MLB's worst shortstop production last season. Alas, Anderson is proving to be a downgrade even from that.

Through 48 games, Anderson has only three extra-base hits compared to 51 strikeouts. He showed brief glimpses of being productive at the start of the season and immediately following a mid-May injured list stint; aside from that, though, he's been severely lacking both plate discipline and power.

Even during a miserable 2023 season, Anderson could do damage against fastballs (.307 batting average against them). That has not been the case as a Marlin (.211 BA).

The pending free agent has dug himself a deep enough hole that it's difficult to see him drawing any interest from contenders at the trade deadline. The question is how much more patience the Marlins will have before turning over shortstop duties to younger alternatives like Bruján and Xavier Edwards. 

 

Declan Cronin

Aside from established closer Tanner Scott, Declan Cronin’s 2.10 ERA is the lowest ERA among qualified Marlins relievers.

Selected off waivers by the Marlins from the Houston Astros just before spring camp started, the expectations for Cronin were not high. He was entering a bullpen that included the aforementioned Scott along with Andrew Nardi, Anthony Bender and Bryan Hoeing. But Cronin has been one of the more consistent pitchers in a bullpen that hasn’t lived up to the expectations they set for themselves after a strong 2023.

The 26-year-old righty has mostly been used in low-leverage situations to success. But even with his limited opportunities in medium and high-leverage spots, he’s keeping hitters below a .200 average and a 2.00 ERA.

Earlier this month, Craig Mish of SportsGrid said the Marlins are expected to capitalize on Cronin's impressive first half by trading him for young talent.

 

Calvin Faucher

Faucher came to the Marlins in the Bruján trade early in the offseason. The start of his 2024 season was delayed by a minor spring training injury, but he's been part of their big league bullpen since mid-April.

An assessment of Faucher’s season this year would be difficult. While his 2.78 ERA and 2.61 FIP suggest the slightest bit of bad luck, a 1.46 WHIP—thanks in large part to a 4.4 BB/9—might be a predictor of future regression. Of his 21 appearances, 19 have come in the seventh inning or later.

You may be surprised to learn that Faucher is the hardest-throwing righty in Miami's bullpen with an average sinker velocity of 95.7 mph.

 

Burch Smith

Smith was plucked from the Rays spring training roster after spending the last two years pitching in Asia. Largely an unknown name among Marlins fans, Smith has actually been one of the more consistent arms in the bullpen, albeit in low-leverage situations.

The 34-year-old is pitching to a 3.81 ERA. His 49.5 percent groundball rate is in the top quarter of the league, utilizing mostly four-seam, cutter, and curveball. His line drive rate of 23.2 percent is the lowest of his career.

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

These assessments are right on and reflect Bendix's moves were net positive, inexpensive, and purposeful. He has a season to cover and must do so within Sherman's limitations. Those limitations were exacerbated by Alcantara's lost season, Perez's injury, and Garcia's stone waste of a contract. I am not alone in being realistic that the Marlins' overall situation (including the farm system status) required some painful decisions. There was/is no reasonable window this season - the unicorn 2023 circumstances were not repeatable. Bendix is refashioning the organization in his vision, with the proverbial medicine an unsavory but ineluctable requirement. I see progress in the dim light and refuse to condemn the guy, but I understand long-time Marlins fans' predictable frustrations. 

[One Regend]

I'm also not one to put Bendix in the fire just yet. It's too soon to judge his transactions. But he was certainly right about one thing: The Marlins weren't going to do jack squat with the core players they have now. Their unicorn 2023 season was their best chance to do anything, and they couldn't do anything more than an early Wild Card exit.

It's frustrating for Marlins fans to see an organization blow the team up after already experiencing a team blowup, but it needed to be done. It's either admit your team core stinks, or continue spinning the wheels of mediocrity. Bendix chose the former option. And I agree with this direction that they are taking.

The only knock I have on Bendix is that he should be wheeling and dealing more. Commit to the rebuild and trade off more valuable pieces. I want to see Luzardo, Jazz, and Tanner Scott gone. They don't need to wait until the trade deadline to find a worthwhile haul. In fact, keeping them around would be a net negative because that would give them the illusion that the team is better than what they really are. (See also: The entire month of May) No point in keeping them around at all.

But above all, I just hope Bendix's team does a better job developing and drafting their prospects than Denbo & Svihlik did.

[Ely Sussman]

44 minutes ago, One Regend said:

The only knock I have on Bendix is that he should be wheeling and dealing more. Commit to the rebuild and trade off more valuable pieces. I want to see Luzardo, Jazz, and Tanner Scott gone. They don't need to wait until the trade deadline to find a worthwhile haul. In fact, keeping them around would be a net negative because that would give them the illusion that the team is better than what they really are. (See also: The entire month of May) No point in keeping them around at all.

As logical as it would be to act now, it takes a trade partner that's willing to do the same. Has to be a unique situation to get something done at this point in the season (Arraez was unique). Most buyers want to wait for a full understanding of what alternatives are on the market. Especially in the NL, there are so many teams clustered together that can't choose a direction for themselves yet.