From overlooked acquisition to crucial reliever, Calvin Faucher faces a shifting role as a new closer joins the Marlins' formidable bullpen.
Calvin Faucher hadn’t proven much of anything when the Miami Marlins signed him ahead of the 2024 season.
The right-hander came to Miami as a 28-year-old with two underwhelming big-league seasons under his belt.
Over the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Faucher had a negative Wins Above Replacement, posting a combined ERA of 6.32.
So when the Marlins acquired Faucher in November 2023, nobody paid too much attention.
But over the last two seasons, Faucher has become an effective major-league reliever, and now, he and one of his former Rays teammates are two key pieces in this year’s Miami bullpen.
Faucher is the latest subject of "Getting to Know the Fish," a series profiling each Miami Marlins player.
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 190 pounds
Big-League Experience: 4 Years
Years With Marlins: 2
Last Year: After a quality 2024 campaign in which Faucher posted a 3.19 ERA and 2.50 FIP in 53 appearances, he took on an even more important role for the Fish in 2025. Faucher pitched in 12 more games and became the team’s primary closer, ending with a team-high 15 saves.
The closer role is something that Faucher has grown comfortable with, having become the Marlins’ man once All-Star Tanner Scott was traded at the 2024 deadline.
But this year, his role might be a little different.
Where He Stands: The Marlins bolstered their bullpen late last month when they signed Pete Fairbanks, Faucher’s teammate in Tampa Bay. Fairbanks has been one of the more reliable closers in baseball, having saved 75 games over the last three seasons.
Fairbanks is widely expected to be the team’s closer come Opening Day, so much so that the team’s website already lists him in the role.
Where does that leave Faucher?
The Marlins have another outstanding high-leverage reliever in 25-year-old Ronny Henriquez, who went 7-1 with a 2.22 ERA out of the bullpen last season, saving seven games.
So the eighth and ninth innings seem set for the Fish, but expect to see Fauchner in the sixth or seventh innings quite often.
Not a lot of bullpens can turn to a guy who saved 15 games a year ago that early, and Miami has that luxury.
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