MILWAUKEE – To begin the second half, the Marlins found themselves exactly where they had hoped to be while constructing their 2026 ballclub: in the thick of the playoff picture.
Over the offseason, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix brought in veteran closer Pete Fairbanks to shore up the back end of the bullpen, especially with Ronny Henriquez out with elbow surgery. A proven arm could flip some of those late losses into wins, perhaps being the difference between making or missing the postseason.
Fairbanks blew his third save of the season and saw his ERA balloon to 7.42 in a 3-1 loss to the Brewers on Sunday afternoon at American Family Field, extending the Marlins’ skid to six – their longest since April 26-May 2, 2025.
“If I didn't want to break my hand, I would have hit quite a few things,” Fairbanks said. “This is the most trying three-month stretch I've ever had in the game of baseball.”
Nursing a 1-0 lead, Fairbanks allowed a leadoff single to Jackson Chourio and walked Brice Turang on five pitches. Following a strikeout of Andrew Vaughn, Fairbanks hung a two-strike cutter to William Contreras, who crushed a walk-off three-run homer.
Entering Sunday, Fairbanks’ 12.8% barrel rate was more than double what it was in any year from 2022-25 and well above his career average of 7.6%. The average exit velocity against him was 91.7 mph, tied for eighth highest among 369 qualified pitchers. And there has been a much higher rate of balls getting hit in the air (75.9%) – sixth-highest among 464 pitchers (min. 50 batted balls).
In the eyes of Fairbanks and manager Clayton McCullough, it seems as though every mistake is being punished with the worst possible outcome.
“When you do it in the ninth inning, it is a blessing and a curse,” Fairbanks said. “There's nowhere to hide. You are going to be a scapegoat. … My frustration – I don't know what the feeling [of] past frustration is – but it's there.”
Asked whether he might give Fairbanks a softer landing, McCullough said he would stick with the 32-year-old at closer.
“I still have a ton of confidence in Pete,” McCullough said. “Going to continue to put him out there in those spots. Believe in the back of the card, and he's been doing this for a long time. No one's more frustrated than Pete right now that it just seems like any mistake he makes, guys aren't missing.
“He's got no other choice. Continue to go, and he's doing everything he can to be prepared, and so total confidence that it'll turn and we'll all be the beneficiaries. I think some of the performance just lines up with how good he has been and is still throwing the ball. …
“That's what he signed up for, and [it’s] not always easy, but you know what? Pete is built for this, and he'll come out of it fine.”
The Marlins sure hope so.
The ending spoiled another stellar start from right-hander Eury Pérez, who tossed six scoreless innings. Pérez permitted just one hit, walked three batters and matched a season high with nine strikeouts (on five different pitch types) to open his second half.
The Brewers didn’t collect a baserunner until Pérez’s two-out walk to Joey Ortiz in the third, and their only hit against him didn’t leave the infield: Andrew Vaughn’s 103 mph two-out infield single in the fourth.
Pérez didn’t allow a runner into scoring position until the sixth, when the amateur magician performed an escape act.
After a leadoff walk to Christian Yelich, who quickly stole second, Pérez hit Jackson Chourio with a pitch. Both runners would advance on his errant pickoff throw. But Pérez buckled down, striking out Brice Turang on a 100.8 mph four-seamer – his second-fastest offering of the season – on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. Vaughn then lined into a 6-5 double play with the infield drawn in to end the threat and Pérez’s 93-pitch outing.
Over his last seven starts, Pérez has compiled a 1.14 ERA with three consecutive quality starts.
“With the same focus,” Pérez said of his second-half mindset. “Leave everything in God's hands, and again, just continue to compete, have fun, like I always say. I think it's going to be a good second half.”
If there’s any silver lining, it’s that the Marlins had a chance to win two of the three games against the Majors’ second-best club. Though Miami scored first in all three contests, the lineup was unable to tack on – a theme from this six-game stretch with 13 total runs scored.
Despite this rough patch, the Marlins are in a three-way tie for the final National League Wild Card spot with 62 games remaining.
“You go through an entire season [with] stretches like this,” McCullough said. “We know they happen, and so we're just going through one right now. I know we'll be fine, and pick it up and go into Houston tomorrow, and look to get ourselves back on track.”