Puk's struggles continue as Marlins fall to 12 under

CHICAGO -- It's been a rough transition to the rotation for left-hander A.J. Puk. After dominating Grapefruit League play this spring (1.32 ERA, 15.1 SO/9), manager Skip Schumaker appointed Puk the #2 starter to begin the regular season. Including Friday's midday start against the Chicago Cubs, in which Miami fell 8-3, Puk's four starts to begin the regular season have certainly been sub-optimal. 

"The off-speed was a little erratic, he was behind every hitter and that's a really good lineup," said Schumaker postgame on Friday. "When you're behind, you're giving them a really good chance and he paid the price."

Puk, 28, was a starting pitcher at the University of Florida and during his first year of pro ball with the Oakland Athletics in 2016. Since then, he has mainly been used out of the bullpen in his professional career. Before he was traded to Miami in February of 2023, the Athletics reportedly planned to transition him into a starter. After a mixed performance in the bullpen for Miami in '23, it was decided to experiment with Puk in the rotation. This move aimed to bolster Miami's starting pitching depth and potentially enhance Puk's value if he could excel in this new role. 

Things couldn't have gotten off to a worse start for the young left-hander in 2024. He is 0-4 with a 9.22 ERA and an 11.20 BB/9 through four big league starts. "It's just one of those things, I gotta go out there and keep on competing and over time, hopefully it's going to turn in my favor," said the southpaw following Friday's game. 

Prior to the game, Skip touched on the importance of Puk commanding his sinker and fastball to be able to get to his strikeout pitches. "The sinker is a real pitch for him. He gets early ground ball outs and doesn't have to get into long counts. He can then attack with the four-seam, which makes the slider much better; but he can't get to the slider and wipe-out pitches without the fastball command."

Skip's fears once again came to fruition as Puk constantly fell behind batters and only threw strikes 57% of the time. Additionally, his velocity was down on all five of his pitches. "Just came up with the flu, don't know if that had anything to do with it but nobody is feeling good," said Puk. 

As of Friday evening, the Marlins have had no conversations about moving Puk back to the bullpen. "We haven't had that conversation yet. He just has to be a little better and give us a chance each time out. He's had a couple of rough starts but we gotta figure out a way to get him back on track," said the skipper. 

Cubs offense got going early 

The Cubs' up-the-middle stars produced most of the offense on Friday afternoon. Second baseman Nico Hoerner set the tone with two doubles and an RBI in the first three frames. Center fielder Cody Bellinger went 2-for-4 with a RBI, and shortstop Dansby Swanson went 2-for-3 with a walk and RBI. 

"Swanson, Hoerner up the middle and Bellinger are three really good players at the top of the lineup that are tough to navigate through. They're winners, they know what winning looks like so it's definitely going to be a challenge," said Schumaker on what makes the Cubs a tough opponent. 

De La Cruz stays hot 

The lone bright spot of the day offensively for Miami was designated hitter Bryan De La Cruz as he launched his fourth home run of the season. He now has a seven-game hit streak going into Saturday's doubleheader. "He's been taking some really good at-bats. From spring training to now it's been great. That's why he's hitting where he's hitting and I think he's building off a really good sophomore year, so i plan on him being in the middle of the order the whole year."

Miami was able to manufacture a couple more runs in the top of the ninth but eventually fell by a score of 8-3. The club fell to 4-16, their worst 20-game start in franchise history. They will play two on Saturday to make up for Thursday night's postponement. Miami's ace Jesus Luzardo will get the nod in game 1 while RHP Roddery Muñoz will get the start in game 2.