One can’t assist however think about the chagrin of Pete Fairbanks’ dermatologist. The fair-haired nearer has spent almost his complete main league profession with the Rays, racking up no less than 23 saves in every of the previous three seasons. And now, as a substitute of leaving the Sunshine State, he’s touring even farther south to Miami. The 32-year-old Fairbanks has signed a one-year, $13 million take care of the Marlins. He was the final nearer accessible in free company, and with Ronny Henriquez out for the season because of a torn UCL, Fairbanks will play an important position for a Miami bullpen that completed within the backside 10 in nearly any class you may consider. Will Sammon of The Athletic broke the information, whereas Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the phrases, and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that the contract included a $1 million signing bonus and one other $1 million in incentives. In response to AJ Eustace of MLB Commerce Rumors, Fairbanks would additionally get a $500,000 bonus if he’s traded.
The transfer represents a reunion with president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, who beforehand served as Tampa Bay’s basic supervisor. Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Fairbanks made it clear that Bendix’s position with the Marlins was a part of their attraction. “To listen to all of the issues that he’s been doing over his tenure down in Miami, from what I’ve heard beforehand to what I’ve now, how a lot issues are altering and the way a lot he has been making an attempt to place his stamp on issues. I felt like that made it a fairly straightforward alternative, and I’m excited to see the course that he takes.” (Hat tip to Kevin Barral of Fish on First, who printed this quote and the others you’ll learn on this article.) Fairbanks additionally famous that transferring only a four-hour drive away from Tampa is a boon as a result of he and his spouse predict their third little one “principally on Opening Day.” That is the primary All-Star break child we write in 2026, however I can guarantee you that it gained’t be the final.
From 2020 to 2023, Fairbanks was among the finest pitchers within the sport by nearly any normal. He ran a 35% strikeout fee, the eleventh highest amongst all pitchers (minimal 130 innings pitched). Consequently, he ranked within the high 20 in ERA and high 10 in FIP. He additionally handled a number of accidents, which Jon Becker detailed earlier this week, reaching 27 innings pitched only one time in his first 4 seasons. He has been extra constant since 2023, reaching 46 appearances three years in a row and setting a profession report with 61 appearances and 60 1/3 innings pitched in 2025.
Though he’s been more healthy of late, Fairbanks’ strikeout fee plummeted in 2024. Over the previous two seasons, he’s run a mixed 24% strikeout fee, not far above the league common. He put up a 3.57 ERA in 2024, his worst since his debut in 2019. Though he dropped his ERA to 2.83 in 2025, he was aided by a career-low .239 BABIP. His FIP and different ERA estimators stayed up within the threes. Fairbanks missed our Prime 50 Free Brokers record not as a result of he wasn’t ok, however as a result of the Rays considerably surprisingly declined his $11 million choice for the 2026 season the day after the record ran. He got here in at twenty seventh on Baseball Prospectus’ record, the place Ginny Searle talked about extra causes for pessimism than optimism. Ginny wasn’t improper, however Fairbanks exhibited some encouraging indicators, too.
Fairbanks has traditionally thrown a four-seamer and a slider, mixing in a changeup very hardly ever. Over the past two years, the fastball has misplaced some velocity. It solely fell from 99.0 mph to a still-very-hard 97.3 mph, nevertheless it additionally misplaced some spin effectivity, which price it an inch or two of motion. These modifications completely tanked its grades from the stuff fashions. It went from one of many highest-rated fastballs within the sport to a bit under common. Nevertheless, Fairbanks additionally raised his arm angle in 2025, and Lance Brozdowski seen that doing so was doubtless the rationale that Fairbanks was ready do a greater of job of finding the pitch within the higher a part of the strike zone. (That Lance Brozdowski, he all the time appears to note.) The improved location was sufficient to make the pitch extra helpful than it had been since 2022, in response to Baseball Savant’s run values. It had a league-average whiff fee and a scarily excessive hard-hit fee, nevertheless it resulted in loads of popups and grounders and, most essential, it hit the zone an terrible lot. That’s only one season of outcomes, so we must always take it with a grain of salt, but when Fairbanks can proceed finding the fastball so properly, it might proceed enjoying up even when the speed continues falling.
Within the earlier paragraph, I stated that Fairbanks had traditionally relied on the four-seamer and slider, and that adverb was essential. He added a brand new pitch on the finish of the 2025 season, a cutter that pitch fashions adored. “I’m good at getting on the surface of the ball,” stated Fairbanks on Wednesday. “Every time I used to be messing round with [Tampa Bay pitching coach Kyle Snyder] pregame, I used to be like, ‘Ultimately I’m simply gonna begin throwing whiffle sliders for enjoyable.’ Seems, it grades out properly, and I’m in a position to throw it within the zone… It simply looks as if it’s a straightforward spot for my hand to get into all through the supply. So long as we’re in a position to proceed making the ball transfer [according to] the intention behind it, and it’s not mixing with any of the opposite breaking balls, I feel we must be fairly good.” The outcomes, although extraordinarily restricted, had been preposterous. Final yr, 273 pitchers threw no less than 25 cutters. Amongst them, Fairbanks and his cutter ranked sixteenth in whiff fee and first in run worth, xwOBA, and barrel fee. Now we’re speaking a couple of tiny, tiny pattern right here. Fairbanks threw simply 42 cutters. Solely 9 of them bought put into play, and 5 of these 9 had been hard-hit. However that is precisely what stuff fashions are for; they provide a fast snapshot of a pitch primarily based on its underlying traits, and several other of them freaked out over the pitch. That’s undoubtedly an encouraging signal.
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Fairbanks provides loads of dangers. The cutter is thrilling however unproven. The fastball command might or might not stick. He’s getting into his age-32 season, and he’s bought an extended harm historical past. His stuff has began to tick down, and the strikeouts have performed the identical. Nonetheless, he was one in every of higher relievers available on the market, and he’s going to a Marlins crew that basically wants him, even when he regresses to the league-average kind he displayed in 2024.