Pete Fairbanks explains why he chose Marlins in free agency

Pete Fairbanks went into his free agency with no expectations, just looking to talk to teams and see what was out there, until his former boss Peter Bendix came calling. After various conversations, he signed a one-year, $13M deal to become a member of the organization. On New Year’s Eve, Fairbanks met with the media to discuss the process that led him to Miami.

"What Pete (Bendix) is doing here was definitely a pleasant surprise," said Fairbanks. "Definitely had some appeal there. My wife and I sat down and we really talked about it. I think that the people who we talked to throughout the process seemed great on the pitching side. Four hours from St. Pete and we're expecting our third kid basically on Opening Day, so that, the proximity, coupled with meeting everything else that we were looking for, is what made it a pretty good choice."

A major factor in Fairbanks choosing Miami was having a conversation with Bendix, hearing how much has changed and the direction that the organization is going in under this new regime. He even noted that the Bendix-era teams were much better than those of the 2021 and 2022 Marlins. The Marlins and Rays split the 2025 Citrus Series, snapping a long streak of Rays victories.

"To hear all the things that he's been doing over his tenure down in Miami, from what I've heard previously to what I have now, how much things are changing and how much he has been attempting to put his stamp on things. I felt like that made it a pretty easy choice, and I am excited to see the direction that he takes."

Fairbanks is the first pitcher to sign a major league free agent deal with the Marlins since they began calling pitches from the dugout last September. The team explained that this process doesn't lead to extra pitch clock violations, which is important to Fairbanks who works very slowly on the mound, averaging approximately 13.1 seconds with the bases empty last season (third-longest time in MLB). "Whether it comes from the dugout or the catcher, I figure I'll be just fine," he said.

After a season where he had a career-high in saves, Fairbanks was asked if there were any conversations regarding what his role would be with the team. The Marlins did not have a clear-cut closer in 2025, with nine different pitchers recording a save.

"I'm quite familiar with how the leverage-based bullpen gets ran, as I did it for quite a while until, really, the past three years," Fairbanks said. "Whether it's improving the counting stats in the ninth, or facing the heart of the eighth, whatever is asked of me is going to be what I do."

Fairbanks, 32, posted a 2.83 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 8.80 K/9, 2.69 BB/9 and 27 saves (career-high) in a career-high 60 1/3 innings pitched. One major decline for him has been the strikeout rate, which was roughly the same as his career-low of 8.74 from 2024. From 2019-2023, he averaged 12.9 K/9.

“I think that there's plenty of ways to skin the cat," said Fairbanks. "If that comes via strikeout or via first pitch pop-up to first, I'm not going to complain about it either way."

Towards the end of the season, Fairbanks began to experiment with a cutter, which he ended up throwing 42 times (4.3%). He will be using it a "decent bit" in 2026, he told Fish On First.

"I'm good at getting on the outside of the ball," said Fairbanks. "Whenever I was messing around with (Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder) pregame, I was like, 'eventually I'm just gonna start throwing whiffle sliders for fun.' Turns out, it grades out well, and I'm able to throw it in the zone...It just seems like the it's an easy spot for my hand to get into throughout the delivery. As long as we're able to continue making the ball move how the intention behind it, and it's not blending with any of the other breaking balls, I think we should be pretty good."

Fairbanks also has a changeup in his arsenal—he threw it 4.9% of the time last season and opponents posted a .353 batting average against it. He doesn’t expect to increase its usage, noting that "four (pitches) would be a lot for a one-inning guy."