A.J. Puk
28-Year-Old
2024 Stats
W-L
0-0
ERA
0.00
WHIP
0.00
K
0
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Acquired by Miami last February, Puk locked down the primary save share early in the season, converting 6 of the Marlins' first 10 saves. The momentum the southpaw was gaining in the 9th inning was halted by a mid-May trip to the injured list due to nerve irritation in his throwing elbow. Fortunately, he only missed 3 weeks and reclaimed closing duties upon his return. Puk racked up 9 more saves until a brutal July (10.24 ERA) forced manager Skip Schumaker to make a closer change. The 28-year-old rebounded over the final two months to finish the season with a career-high 15 saves, 7 wins and 78:13 K:BB ratio across 56.2 innings. Puk's 26.9% K-BB percentage was 3rd-best among qualified relievers, so there's a good chance he sees save opportunities again in 2024. Read Past Outlooks
Brilliant spring continues
Puk struck out six over 3.1 scoreless innings in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Nationals. He allowed five hits and a walk.
ANALYSIS
The 28-year-old southpaw has yet to make a start during his big-league career, with all 142 of his appearances to date coming in relief, but Puk is making a very compelling case to begin the season in the Marlins' rotation. He's delivered a 15:4 K:BB through 8.1 spring innings with a 0.00 ERA, and his emergence makes it easier for the team to give Braxton Garrett (shoulder) the time he needs to get 100 percent healthy, rather than pushing him to be ready for Opening Day. If Puk carries his spring success into the regular season, he could be hard to dislodge from a starting role, but he also hasn't thrown more than 66.1 innings in a season since 2017, when he was working his way through the Oakland system.
The 28-year-old southpaw has yet to make a start during his big-league career, with all 142 of his appearances to date coming in relief, but Puk is making a very compelling case to begin the season in the Marlins' rotation. He's delivered a 15:4 K:BB through 8.1 spring innings with a 0.00 ERA, and his emergence makes it easier for the team to give Braxton Garrett (shoulder) the time he needs to get 100 percent healthy, rather than pushing him to be ready for Opening Day. If Puk carries his spring success into the regular season, he could be hard to dislodge from a starting role, but he also hasn't thrown more than 66.1 innings in a season since 2017, when he was working his way through the Oakland system.
Pitching Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Minor League Game Log
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Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-32%
BAA vs LHP
2024
No Stats
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022vs Left | .173 | 58 | 6 | 27 | 6 | |||
Since 2022vs Right | .256 | 96 | 30 | 80 | 11 | |||
2024vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
2024vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
2023vs Left | .197 | 29 | 2 | 14 | 3 | |||
2023vs Right | .261 | 49 | 11 | 40 | 7 | |||
2022vs Left | .153 | 29 | 4 | 13 | 3 | |||
2022vs Right | .252 | 47 | 19 | 40 | 4 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-50%
ERA on Road
2024
No Stats
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022Home | 4.70 | 1.29 | 61.1 | 11.7 | 2.9 | ||||
Since 2022Away | 2.34 | 1.04 | 61.2 | 10.8 | 2.3 | ||||
2024Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2024Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2023Home | 5.29 | 1.45 | 32.1 | 14.2 | 2.5 | ||||
2023Away | 2.22 | 0.82 | 24.1 | 10.0 | 1.5 | ||||
2022Home | 4.03 | 1.10 | 29.0 | 9.0 | 3.4 | ||||
2022Away | 2.41 | 1.18 | 37.1 | 11.3 | 2.9 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does A.J. Puk compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
6.00K/9
12.4BB/9
2.1HR/9
1.6Fastball
95.8 mphERA
3.97WHIP
1.18BABIP
.350GB/FB
1.25Left On Base
71.7%Exit Velocity
82.2 mphBarrels/BBE
5.6%Spin Rate
2227 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
21.8%Swinging Strike
15.2%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring A.J. Puk See More
Even with a tough matchup against the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park on Opening Day, Spencer Strider takes the top spot in the first Weekly Pitcher Rankings of the year.
Injuries and signings have caused plenty of shifts in our rankings over the last two weeks, with Elly De La Cruz jumping up six spots due to teammates missing time.
Who's winning the National League's biggest job battles, and who's losing them? Three injuries in the Marlins rotation have put A.J. Puk in the former camp.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Puk finally faded the injury bug, setting personal marks in both innings (66.1) and games played (62) after moving to the bullpen. The 6-foot-7 southpaw struck out 76 batters via his 97 mph fastball, slider and occasional sinker, while maintaining mostly above-average Statcast metrics. The few areas of deficiency were barrel percentage (8.8%) and walk rate (8.2%), especially after Puk exhibited shaky control in the second half. However, Puk's ascension to high leverage was no surprise, especially given the wave of injuries to his bullpen mates. He compiled four wins, 20 holds (T-13th in AL) and four saves, three of which came within a two-week span right after the All-Star break. Puk has the upside to close full-time, but he'll open spring training in the competition for a rotation spot. He's primarily worked as a reliever since he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, so his outlook is murky at best if he sticks as a starter.
More Fantasy News
Tracking toward rotation spot
Puk is a "heavy favorite" to open the season in the Marlins' rotation with Braxton Garrett (shoulder) unavailable, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.
ANALYSIS
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Dazzles against Yanks on Monday
Puk gave up one hit and two walks over three scoreless innings in Monday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees. He struck out six.
ANALYSIS
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Sharp in spring debut
Puk struck out three and walked one over two scoreless, no-hit innings during Tuesday's Grapefruit League game against the Mets.
ANALYSIS
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Getting stretched out as starter
Puk spent the offseason preparing to be a starting pitcher, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Settles with Miami at $1.8 million
The Marlins and Puk avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $1.8 million contract Thursday, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.
ANALYSIS
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