Calvin

Faucher

Faucher walked Hyeseong Kim and Alex Call to begin the inning and then fell behind Alex Freeland 1-0 prior to getting bailed out by a sac bunt. Faucher then intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani and got Freddie Freeman to hit his second double-play ball of the day. It certainly doesn’t build any confidence in Faucher, but he’ll probably stay in the mix for saves until Pete Fairbanks returns.

Fairbanks heads to the shelf after leaving Monday’s save situation against the Dodgers with a nerve-related issue in his right thumb. There’s optimism he won’t require a lengthy absence, but he’s going to be out until at least mid-May. The logical candidates to handle the ninth inning role in his absence are Calvin Faucher, Anthony Bender and Tyler Phillips. It’ll likely be a closer-by-committee situation.

Fairbanks has Reynaud’s Syndrome, which leads to poor blood flow to his fingers in cold weather, but no word yet if tonight’s issue was related to that. Fairbanks wound up being charged with three runs in one-third of an inning and took his second loss tonight. If he’s forced to the IL, then Tyler Phillips, Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender could be candidates for saves.

Congrats to Pete and his growing family. He will likely be out for the next three days before returning to the team. Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender should close while Fairbanks is out.

It’s a rare loss for a player in the salary arbitration process this offseason after Faucher filed at $2.05 million. The 30-year-old high-leverage arm lost any semblance of fantasy appeal when the Marlins signed veteran stopper Pete Fairbanks to a one-year pact earlier this offseason. He’ll operate in a setup role, which technically gives him some value in holds leagues.

The deal, which was agreed to earlier this week, is now official after the 32-year-old right-hander passed his physical. The contract includes a $1 million signing bonus and Fairbanks will have the potential to pick up an additional $1 million in incentives. He’ll step in as the Marlins primary closer — in place of an injured Ronny Henriquez and over incumbent Calvin Faucher — after recording 75 saves for the Rays over the past three seasons.

That’s a bummer. Henriquez looked like a legitimate closing candidate during a breakthrough 2025, and while we figured the Marlins would acquire a true closer this winter, that they’ve missed out so far had Henriquez shaping up as quite the sleeper. That’s obviously off the table now, so it really is a must that they bring in a couple of quality relief arms. Calvin Faucher is probably the team’s favorite for saves at the moment.

Faucher was called on to close out the game against the Rangers on Saturday with a two-run lead in the ninth inning. He gave up a solo homer to Kyle Higashioka and stranded two more runners before holding on to preserve the win and record his 15th save.

Faucher wasn’t messing around in this one, going right through the heart of the Mets’ lineup. He retired Starling Marte on a fly ball to center, Francisco Lindor on a swinging third strike and Juan Soto on a ground ball to second base to end it, needing just seven pitches (six strikes) to get the job done. He now boasts a 3.35 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a 49/21 K/BB ratio over 51 innings on the season while converting 13 of his first 18 save chances.

Fortunately, the Marlins upped their lead from one to two runs in the bottom of the eighth, giving Faucher some margin for error. It’s his first save since Aug. 2, but he’s the pitcher in the Marlins pen worth rostering in 12- or 15-team leagues.