Fairbanks (nerve irritation) to IL; Gibson recalled from Triple-A

LOS ANGELES – The Marlins placed closer Pete Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list with nerve irritation and recalled left-hander Cade Gibson from Triple-A Jacksonville ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Dodgers.

According to manager Clayton McCullough, Fairbanks will not throw for a handful of days and let the medication work before beginning a throwing progression.

Fairbanks previously landed on the IL with a nerve-related issue on April 22, 2024 (retroactive to April 19). He began a rehab assignment that May 7 and returned May 11.

“It was around the 16-day mark,” McCullough said. “We'll all hold out hope that it's a minimum stay on the IL, but I think we'll just have to wait certainly over the next few days, just to see how he continues to feel and respond to treatment.”

Fairbanks, who loaded the bases with one out during Monday night’s 5-4 walk-off loss, exited after experiencing numbness in his right hand during his third free pass – an intentional walk to Freddie Freeman – of the frame. He had walked just one of 36 batters entering the outing.

“Just a lot of diminished sensation,” Fairbanks told MLB.com Monday night. “Felt like any movement of the wrist would exacerbate just loss of sensation in the index finger. So we'll see where it goes and how to work on it, but it was pretty frustrating, results aside, just to feel like things are going wrong and you don't know what it is.

“And obviously I've dealt with the nerve stuff before, and it is still just as frustrating, because it's such a complex chain from neck to fingertip with a lot of entrapment spots. So just trying to figure out what exactly is going on and work on it.”

With Fairbanks missing time, the Marlins will go closer-by-committee like they did in 2025. Miami wanted to avoid doing so by signing Fairbanks to a franchise-record $13 million deal for a reliever over the offseason.

Nine relievers recorded a save in 2025, led by right-hander Calvin Faucher (15). Breakout star Ronny Henriquez (seven) got most of the high-leverage opportunities as the season progressed, but he is sidelined in 2026 after undergoing UCL surgery.

Righties Anthony Bender and Tyler Phillips each saved four games in 2025, followed by righty Lake Bachar (three). Faucher and Bender have been used as setup men in 2026, while Phillips and Bachar have given the club multiple innings in most of their outings.

When Fairbanks exited Monday’s ninth inning, Faucher had already tossed a scoreless eighth and Bender had pitched on consecutive days. So Phillips took over and struck out Will Smith before Kyle Tucker connected on Phillips’ splitter for the walk-off two-run single.

“I think what we'll do is go into each game with what we have available and try to just win moments throughout the game,” McCullough said. “This was a play that we ran a lot of times last year when we didn't have someone that was designated to finish games and used everyone we had available we thought in the best spots in a game to get us to the ninth inning.

“The good thing is we feel like we have a lot of confidence in a number of the pitchers that we have down there. We feel like we have a really solid bullpen and a number of individuals that are now here, at least over the next couple weeks, will get some opportunities there. It will be more of a collective then going down to one person that will be taking the save opportunities.”

Gibson, who lost out on an Opening Day bullpen spot to fellow lefty Andrew Nardi, had struck out 15 batters and walked four in 13 2/3 innings for the Jumbo Shrimp this season. He had a 2.63 ERA and a 0.732 WHIP in 10 outings. Gibson joins Nardi and veteran John King as southpaw relief options.

During his rookie season in 2025, Gibson posted a 165 ERA+ and accumulated a 1.4 bWAR in 44 outings (one start). His splits were actually better against righties (.210/.288/.238) than lefties (.229/.333/.406).

“Cade had been throwing the ball really well,” McCullough said. “He improved his stuff and how he was attacking left-handed hitters. As far as the handiness of our ‘pen, how many lefties, how many righties, I think it comes down to we want eight guys who are really good. We have guys that are right-handed that we feel like they're good against left and can go take down more lineups that are spread in a way that makes it tough to not be able to do that.

“Cade showed last year that he was a very dependable pitcher for us and took down a lot of important innings and was having a good camp. He'll get a chance to come up here now and fit into the ‘pen and whatever role usage we need from him on a given night.”