After Horrendous Start To Season, Marlins Starter Is Latest To Hit IL

He had a tremendous spring training as he attempted to make the difficult switch from reliever to starter, but Miami Marlins hurler AJ Puk got off to a simply horrendous start to the 2024 season, with a major league-leading four losses, a brutal 9.22 ERA and ridiculously bad 17 walks (also worst in baseball) in just 13.2 innings pitched.

Perhaps fatigue in his throwing shoulder has played a part, as Puk has now been placed on the injured list by the Fish.

Again Aj Puk with Fatigue. Same shiz another year. When he struggled as a closer it was fatigue, when he cant get out of 3 innings as a starter it is fatigue. MAX better be back pitching Friday. https://t.co/IiMG5LNEAM
— LoudMarlinsFan (@LoudMiamiFan) April 20, 2024

Puk had not been a starter since 2017 back in A-ball and AA, and only pitched 56 innings last year out of the bullpen. It was perhaps too much to ask to throw him into the rotation, and expecting him to last very long — either per start, or overall.

In his fourth and perhaps final start, Puk lasted just three innings Friday night against the Chicago Cubs and surrendered seven earned runs on seven hits and three walks.

Puk certainly has a lengthy injury history, with Tommy John surgery knocking him out of the entire 2018 season and part of 2019, before an injury that required shoulder surgery kept him out of the 2020 season.

Just before the IL stint was announced on Friday, ironically, manager Skip Schumaker suggested that he wasn't considering moving Puk out of the rotation just yet.

Skip on if the club has had any conversations about moving Puk back to the bullpen: "No, we haven't had that conversation yet. Just gotta be a little better and give us a chance each time out. Has had a couple rough starts but we gotta figure out a way to get him back on track."
— Isaac Azout (@IsaacAzout) April 19, 2024