Bender’s post-Tommy John return, Luzardo’s strong outing, Anderson plan and more Marlins notes

It had been more than 18 months since Anthony Bender last experienced this feeling.

Stepping onto the mount. Toeing the rubber. Throwing pitches to a batter in a live game setting.

“Felt really good getting back out there,” Bender said.

While Bender still has some rust to shake off after his long layoff following Tommy John surgery, his one inning of work in the Miami Marlins’ 6-3 spring training loss to the Washington Nationals on Sunday provided a reminder of what he can provide to Miami’s bullpen.

Bender pitched a scoreless third inning, working around a two-out single and walk while recording a strikeout.

“Just trying to fill up the zone and work on some things — pitches and all the adrenaline and stuff like that,” said Bender, who last pitched in a live game on Aug. 13, 2022.

After rehab grind and watching success from afar, Anthony Bender ready to rejoin Marlins bullpen

It was no different than how Bender worked when he made his MLB debut in May 2021 and immediately became a fixture in Miami’s bullpen after a long baseball journey to get to the Marlins and ultimately the big leagues.

In 82 career games, most of which were in high-leverage relief spots, Bender has a 2.90 ERA with 88 strikeouts over 80 2/3 innings. He has nine saves in 13 opportunities. His sinker averages about 97 mph and his slider has a career 44.4-percent swing-and-miss rate.

“That stuff is real,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “The characteristics on the slider in the sinker — not too many people have it in the league. Watching that, it’s gonna be fun. You just see the hitters reactions to his different pitches [and] they were really uncomfortable. Hopefully they continue to be uncomfortable.”

That’s exactly what Miami is looking for as it tried to beef up the back end of its bullpen. The Marlins’ main two late-inning options in the bullpen are left-handed pitchers in closer Tanner Scott and setup man Andrew Nardi. Bender, if he returns to form, gives Miami a quality right-handed option to add to the mix.

“He has experience in the back end and has been really good at at,” Schumaker said. “Hopefully we see that and it really lengthens our bullpen.”

Jesus Luzardo starts spring on right note

Jesus Luzardo is in position to be Miami’s ace for the 2024 season with Sandy Alcantara sidelined following Tommy John surgery.

He certainly looked the part in his first outing of spring training.

The 26-year-old lefty needed just 23 pitches to retire all six batters he faced in two innings against the Nationals. He struck out three — Alex Call on a slider, Carter Kieboom and Riley Adams on four-seam fastballs.

Luzardo’s fastball topped out at 96.8 mph, and he induced whiffs on all three swings against his slider.

“It was really just commanding the zone,” Luzardo said. “That’s something we talked about a lot with [pitching coach] Mel [Stottlemyre Jr.] and Skip: Just get ahead, put ourselves in good counts and good positions. That’s what we did today.”

Added Schumaker: “He was good. First-pitch strikes, dominated the strike zone. Had a wipeout slider. The fastball was where it needs to be, maybe even better at this point. So yeah, excellent.”

Marlins’ plan with Tim Anderson

Shortstop Tim Anderson went through a full workout with the Marlins’ main group of position players on the main field ahead of Sunday’s game. Anderson also stood in for live batting practice sessions on the back fields.

But Schumaker said it will likely be a little bit until Anderson gets into a spring game.

“We’ll watch it every day ... and then just monitor how he feels,” Schumaker said. “I still think he’s going to be a couple more days before he sees live action.”

Xavier Edwards started at shortstop in the Marlins’ Grapefruit League opener on Saturday. Jon Berti started there on Sunday.

This and that

▪ The Marlins are continuing to ease in left-handed pitchers Trevor Rogers and Braxton Garrett. Rogers, who pitched just 18 innings last season due to injury, threw a bullpen session on Sunday while Garrett on Monday is scheduled to throw his second since being slowed down by shoulder soreness early in camp.

▪ First baseman Troy Johnston, the Marlins’ No. 18 overall prospect according to Baseball America, had three hits on Sunday.

▪ Right-handed pitchers Sixto Sanchez and Max Meyer were among pitchers who threw live batting practice on the back fields. Both are expected to pitch in a spring training game later this week.

▪ Right-handed pitcher Eury Perez is scheduled to start on Monday when the Marlins host the St. Louis Cardinals.