Not Floundering: Marlins Bullpen Taking Shape

Ricky Nolasco was in a jam in the seventh inning when he walked a couple of batters, and gave up a single. He had enough to go get a couple of outs, but Fredi Gonzalez decided to go with his gut and take Nolasco out of the game in the seventh inning.

Gonzalez decided to use his reliever to get Nolasco out of it, and it worked out. Brendan Donnelly got Luis Rodriguez to pop out and then he struck out Chase Headley to end the Padres' threat.

Renyell Pinto and Kiko Calero finished the game by pitching the eighth and ninth innings respectively in preserving Nolasco's victory.

It could have been tempting for Gonzalez to keep Nolasco for an out or two, but a manager's job is to figure out if his starter should continue after logging many innings in a game or use a different pitcher that has a fresh arm.

Nolasco has been great since the demotion, and the offensively starved Padres were no match for Nolasco the entire day so it would have been hard to blame Gonzalez if he left Nolasco pitch.

It says something about the Marlins' relievers that Gonzalez decided not to hesitate in using them after Nolasco struggled in that inning.

The Marlins are getting better performances out of their relievers in July, and that was a result of Kiko Calero and Leo Nunez being activated from the disabled list.

Gonzalez has been using Calero, Nunez and Dan Meyer to finish the last three innings in getting the Marlins a victory, and those three have done a superb job.

The three of them have been throwing strikes often, especially Nunez.

Brian Sanches, Burke Badenhop and Reynel Pinto have done efficient jobs as well when they have been called on for middle relief or in extra innings in keeping the game tied.

Even newcomer Donnelly has been a good acquisition for the Fish. He has shown that his arm is still good enough to get everybody out when he is called on to do his job.

The pen is so good these days that Luis Ayala has not gotten much work, which has to be disappointing for him since he left the Twins because of lack of work.

It seems Gonzalez is set with the guys he trust in certain situations.

If there is something Gonzalez should do, it's that he needs to establish a role for Nunez, Meyer and Calero.

The closer-by-committee has served well for the Fish, but it rarely works most of the time. Gonzalez should use Meyer in the seventh, Calero in the eighth and Nunez in the ninth.

Nunez has the stuff to be a closer by overpowering hitters, and getting his ground outs for his outs. He makes ninth innings more relaxed than Matt Lindstrom, and that should make Gonzalez ponder about using Nunez as his closer for the rest of the year even if Lindstrom comes back.

This should be an easy decision.

Calero is good for a setup guy because he can get outs with his changeup. By pairing him with Nunez for the last two innings, the game would be over by the eighth inning.

A setup guy is a valuable position in baseball, and most games are either blown or preserved by the eighth inning, and that's where Calero is successful at.

The Marlins have some flaws in their scouting reports, but now, the scouts can stay their bullpen is not one of them.