Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Loaded bullpen may squeeze some players out.
Right-hander Wittgren and others may be squeezed out
Let’s start the annual roll call of players proclaiming to be in the best shape of their lives with Nick Wittgren.
“I feel better than I’ve ever felt coming into spring,” said Wittgren, the right-handed Marlins reliever who worked out at a high-end sports performance facility in Jupiter this offseason. “I’m happy about that.”
It’s a common February sentiment, but an important one nonetheless. And for Wittgren, 25, it comes in advance of a spring training as significant as any, as he tries to wedge himself into a crowded and talented Marlins bullpen.
“I’m just coming into spring training trying to win a spot, trying to be as prepared as I can for the season,” he said.
That notion is more than just a pro athlete sticking to uncontroversial sentences. He genuinely has to win a job. At the end of an offseason in which the Marlins focused on loading up their relief corps, Wittgren has no obvious spot on the Opening Day roster, an unusual predicament after a strong rookie season in which he earned a few seventh-inning holds during the bullpen’s rocky August stretch.
A.J. Ramos, Brad Ziegler, Kyle Barraclough, David Phelps, Junichi Tazawa and Dustin McGowan are effectively locks in the Marlins bullpen. That leaves a maximum of two spots up for grabs, and the Marlins seem to be leaning toward carrying one or two long relievers who lose out in the rotation competition.
For Wittgren, it could mean a year bouncing between Miami and Triple-A New Orleans, as he did last season until a permanent call-up in late May.
Wittgren’s purgatory is through no fault of his own.
He had a 3.14 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 48 relief appearances in 2016. He struck out more than four batters for every one he walked — the best rate in the Miami ’pen — and his ERA+ of 126 was considerably better than a league-average 100.
Righty Brian Ellington (2.45 ERA, 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 32 games) and lefty Hunter Cervenka (3.53 ERA, 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 68 games with the Braves and Marlins) are in similar positions, though both dealt with control issues that Wittgren did not.
All three are depth options for the Marlins, who have made it clear they value having a group of arms that can ride the NOLAMIA shuttle and be called upon when the bullpen needs a replacement due to injury or ineffectiveness.
“Really, I’m just going into spring training just trying to do me, do my job,” Wittgren said. “It’s not my decision to put myself on the team or anything. I’m leaving the decisions to the guys who are actually qualified to make those. I’m just going to do my best.”
Said Marlins president David Samson: “Everyone craves depth, right? That’s what you want to get. Having depth is an extremely positive thing.”
For now, Wittgren will wrap up his winter workouts at Cressey Sports Performance, a few miles up Florida’s Turnpike from Roger Dean Stadium. CSP, run and co-founded by Eric Cressey, is a popular offseason destination for major league pitchers. Among those who have worked with Cressey are Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber, former longtime big leaguer Curt Schilling and former Marlins hurlers Steve Cishek and Burke Badenhop.
That experience looks all the better compared to last offseason, when Wittgren worked 60-hour weeks at a catering gig. Now, he doesn’t need the extra cash. All of the weddings and parties he’s attended have been social endeavors instead of professional ones, and he’s been able to focus on getting in the best shape of his life for when the Marlins call on him. Whenever that might be. “It’s going to be a good bullpen,” Wittgren said. “I can tell you that.”