JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Miami Marlins right-handed pitcher Anthony Bender is scheduled to join the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Tuesday to begin an injury rehabilitation assignment with the club’s 7:45 p.m. ET first pitch at the Memphis Redbirds from AutoZone Park.
Bender was placed on the injured list on June 30 with a right shin stress reaction. He had pitched in 35 games for Miami prior to his injury, going 1-1 with a 2.62 ERA. Over 34.1 innings, the 31-year-old had yielded only 21 hits and 12 walks while striking out 41.
A native of Petaluma, Calif., Bender was originally drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 20th round of the 2016 draft out of Santa Rosa Junior College (Calif.). He reached as high as High-A Wilmington in the Royals’ organization before getting released during Spring Training in 2019. Bender latched on with independent Sioux City of the American Association, pitching in two games before signing a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. He pitched for Low-A Wisconsin, High-A Carolina and Double-A Biloxi during the 2019 campaign.
Following the cancelation of the 2020 Minor League Baseball season, Bender returned to the American Association to pitch for the Milwaukee Milkmen. He signed a minor league deal with the Marlins on November 30, 2020 and made his major league debut for Miami on May 5, 2021 with a scoreless inning of relief against Arizona. Bender wound up registering an extraordinary rookie season, appearing in 60 games for the Fish and recording a 2.79 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 61.1 innings.
Over five major league seasons, Bender has appeared in 227 games with one start, posting a 2.97 ERA and 230 strikeouts in 218.0 innings with just 165 hits allowed.
Bender is the 10th Marlin to join Jacksonville on rehab assignment this season, following outfielder Kyle Stowers (April 10-19), infielder Maximo Acosta (April 15-April 20), outfielder Esteury Ruiz (April 15-April 24), first baseman Christopher Morel (April 21-27), outfielder Griffin Conine (June 16-21), right-handers Eury Pérez (June 18-24), Janson Junk (June 28-July 9) and Josh Ekness (July 23-August 3) and outfielder Owen Caissie (July 28-August 1).
ABOUT THE JUMBO SHRIMP: The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and compete in the International League. The 2025 International League and Triple-A National Champions, the Jumbo Shrimp call VyStar Ballpark home for baseball but also a wide variety of additional community focused events with a goal of providing Affordable, Family, FUN to Northeast Florida. Winners of many marketing and sales awards and recognition since the team was rebranded prior to the 2017 season, the Jumbo Shrimp continually lead the state of Florida in attendance across all minor league professional sports organizations.