Fairbanks becomes 4th pitcher to notch 100th career save as a Marlin

MIAMI – Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks didn’t envision collecting 100 big league saves when he began his professional career 11 years ago.

After being selected in the ninth round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of the University of Missouri, Fairbanks spent his first few seasons as a starter. Once Fairbanks underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, however, he returned two years later as a reliever.

Fairbanks made his Major League debut as a 25-year-old on June 9, 2019, with the Rangers before they dealt him to the Rays following just eight appearances. As fate would have it, his first MLB save came against his former organization on Sept. 10 of that year in a 5-3 road victory in 11 innings.

Now 32, Fairbanks notched the milestone save while tossing a perfect ninth inning against the Giants to secure the Marlins’ 4-3 victory on Friday night at loanDepot park.

“That was never the goal,” Fairbanks said. “My goal was to make it [to the big leagues], but it's obviously a fun milestone.”

Fairbanks joined righties Robb Nen (July 31, 1997), Antonio Alfonseca (Sept. 18, 2001) and Brad Ziegler (May 11, 2018) as the only pitchers to notch their 100th career save as a Marlin. Of Major League pitchers under contract, Fairbanks ranks 14th. The next closest is D-backs righty Paul Sewald (104).

“We're still doing it, so hopefully it's not the last one,” Fairbanks said. “It's pretty cool, right? My dad texted me after the game, and I started thinking about how this was something like, if you had asked me at 16 to pick a career, this is what I would have chosen.

“So to hit a milestone like that is something that I'm trying my best to be introspective of. I'm obviously not very good at it, but it's pretty cool. It's something that the ball will go in my selection of baseballs that we have at the house.”

Fairbanks, who signed a franchise-record deal for a reliever over the offseason, got off to a strong start with three consecutive scoreless outings, including two saves, before some hiccups due to various circumstances. He opened the April 5 game at Yankee Stadium so that he could fly back to Tampa for the birth of his child, then didn’t pitch for nine days. By the end of April, Fairbanks landed on the injured list with nerve irritation in his pitching hand.

Since his return from the IL, Fairbanks has converted all but one of his six save opportunities, picked up three wins and recorded one hold. Arguably most important to his success has been not issuing a walk in five of his seven outings this month. Fairbanks credited using a core velocity belt and watching old videos with pitching coach Daniel Moskos for his turnaround.

It will take time for Fairbanks to dig himself out of the hole (career-high 6.43 ERA and 4.7 BB/9) he created with his early-season struggles. Fairbanks does have a club-high 12.4 K/9 rate and has gone 10-for-12 in save chances despite that.

“He's been more efficient,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He's filling up the zone at a rate that I think he is and we were expecting, he's accustomed to. It was a very uneven start of his year … and even during some of the games where maybe the line score, box didn't look great, we felt great about where his stuff was, the place he was in.

“And I think now we're just in some ways seeing some of that turn around. His stuff's great, and he's accessing the zone more, and you see him getting ahead, and he has so many weapons to go to.”