A.J Puk learning ins and outs of starting pitching recovery with help of teammates

JUPITER, FL—A.J. Puk looks like he’s one of the more seasoned starting pitchers in the Marlins rotation this spring. For a rotation that features the talent that it does, that’s a bold statement, but the newly minted reliever-turned-starter is living up to it.

One of those talented pieces is Cy Young candidate Jesús Luzardo. Both pitchers came up in the Oakland Athletics system before Luzardo was traded to Miami at the trade deadline in 2021. Now, Luzardo is somewhat of a mentor for Puk as he moves into his new role, and he’s impressed by what he’s seen in camp so far.

“I feel like he came into this camp probably the best I've ever seen him,” Luzardo told Fish on First. “Just to see how he's progressed and how his arsenal has gotten bigger and better, even from last year to this year. Using more pitches, using more sides of the plate, more parts of the zone, and it's really all him. He takes it upon himself. He worked really hard in the offseason and he committed to that this offseason.”

Puk, who spent part of last season as the Marlins’ closer before transitioning to a middle-relief role, is already mostly stretched out as a rotation piece. On Thursday, he threw five innings and around 70 pitches in a minor league game against the New York Mets. 

In his most recent Major League outing against the Washington Nationals on March 9, Puk threw 3 ⅓ scoreless innings. Five days prior to that, Puk threw three more scoreless innings against the New York Yankees.

In both games, the 28-year-old lefty sat his fastball in the mid-90s throughout the game, never losing velocity on that pitch. His secondary pitches—sweeper, two-seam fastball, cutter, splitter—looked sharp throughout his outings. He has only lost about a mile per hour off his fastball compared to last year, which is to be expected as he trades off a little velocity in exchange for a higher inning workload.

When it comes to recovery after starts and preparing for the next one, Puk said he has been “just copying” everything Luzardo does.

“There's a couple little techniques that we use in the training room that I like to do that work for me,” Luzardo said. “I know he started to use some of them, and it worked for him as well. But just really managing the workload, trying to dial it back and maybe ramp up the throwing a little bit within the five days I think is important to build that strength up.”

Those techniques, combined with a heavy set of endurance training over the offseason, have allowed Puk to feel like he still has a lot left in the tank after his outings.

“I feel great,” Puk said after his three innings against the Yankees. “I'm not tired out there. I'm not going out there trying to overthrow and light up the radar gun. I'm trying to make my pitches, get out of at-bats so I can go deep in games. and that's my goal. The difference from closing, it’s max effort for 15 pitches. I'm just trying to, not say "cruise control," but that controlled aggression when I need it for a start.”

Puk has also added three pitches to his repertoire: cutter and a splitter, and a two-seam fastball that he used sparingly last season.

“A lot of attention to detail, a lot of focus on every time you play catch,” Luzardo said. “It is unheard of. You usually hear one or two pitches (added), but he's come out with like three new ones, and they all look really good.”

With Braxton Garrett out for at least the first couple weeks of the season, Edward Cabrera’s progression being interrupted for a few days due to right shoulder impingement, and Eury Pérez dealing with a nagging fingernail issue, Puk looks close to a lock for the starting rotation.