Andrew

Nardi

Nardi will be on the shelf until at least late May, The 26-year-old lefty has been a key component of Miami’s relief mix over the last two season, racking up 122 appearances during that span.

Nardi was rehabbing from an elbow issue, but the left-hander now will be shut down and be reevaluated in the coming days. A trip to the injured list to begin the 2025 season seems more likely than not at this point.

McCullough told reporters that something “flared” up with Nardi, and that the team is awaiting clarity before taking the next steps. The 26-year-old missed the final month-plus of 2024 with a muscle injury in his left elbow, but is expected to help the Miami bullpen at some point in 2025.

Nardi will miss the rest of the season with a left elbow injury. The 26-year-old southpaw finishes the year with a 5.07 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 70/18 K/BB ratio across 49 2/3 innings (59 appearances).

No word yet on the severity of the issue, which will determine how much time Nardi is going to miss. With just a few weeks left in the season, it’s possible he’s done for the year. The 26-year-old lefty has made 59 relief appearances this season for the Marlins, compiling a serviceable 5.07 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 70/18 K/BB ratio across 49 2/3 innings of work.

Faucher appeared to be the first choice for saves in the Miami pen with Tanner Scott gone, though he would have needed to go two innings in order to close out this one. We don’t know if that was actually the plan, but it might have been, considering that the two guys we’d look at as the most likely alternatives in the ninth, Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi, worked the sixth and seventh, respectively, tonight. That Faucher, who came in with a 2.95 ERA, had a nightmare outing might make it more likely that Bender or Nardi gets the next chance.

Rosenthal specifically mentions Marlins’ Tanner Scott or Andrew Nardi and acknowledges that “The acquisition cost for a pre-arbitration reliever such as Nardi...would be considerably higher.” He also mentions that the Yankees would be open to high-strikeout-rate right-handed relievers as well, but a lefty is an ideal fit. This, of course, highlights one of the threats to Tanner Scott’s fantasy value as he would almost certainly lose his closer role if he were traded to the Yankees. You’re unlikely to get much for Scott in a trade in fantasy leagues, but his time as a closer appears to be running out with the trade deadline looming.

Scott’s brutal beginning to his spring has seen him give up eight earned runs and walk five while getting a total of three outs over three appearances. His velocity hasn’t been too bad — his 96.2 mph average on his fastball today was just off last year’s mark of 96.8 mph — but he hasn’t found his slider yet. It’ll be something to watch over the rest of the spring. We’d recommend grabbing A.J. Puk late in drafts if he were the alternative to Scott, but it looks like he’ll be starting games initially. That could put Andrew Nardi next in line.

With primary closer Tanner Scott out on paternity leave, Nardi received the call to protect a two-run lead in the final frame after Matt Moore and David Robertson tosses scoreless frames in a tie ballgame earlier in the contest. He struck out Brett Baty and got Mark Vientos to pop out before handing out a free pass to Rafael Ortega. He settled down to retire pinch-hitter Francisco Alvarez to preserve the victory.

Nardi wound up missing a couple games last week after being struck by a line drive on his left hand, but managed to avoid serious injury. The 25-year-old southpaw has blossomed into one of the better high-leverage relievers in baseball this season, picking up seven wins to go along with a sparkling 2.85 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 63/15 K/BB ratio across 47 1/3 innings in a career-high 52 appearances.