After a breakout 2023 with the Miami Marlins, Andrew Nardi faced injury and a sharp decline. Can he recapture his dominant form in 2026?
In 2023, the Miami Marlins were a playoff team, and Andrew Nardi was a big reason why.
Nardi came into the season without any track record.
He had only pitched in 13 big-league games, and the results were ugly: Nardi ended the 2022 season with a 9.82 ERA.
But Nardi pitched well enough in spring training to make the Opening Day roster in 2023, and the Marlins didn't regret that decision. Nardi ended the 2023 season with an 8-1 record and 2.67 ERA out of the bullpen.
Per Baseball Reference, Nardi ended 2023 as Miami's second most valuable reliever.
At 24 years old, it looked like Nardi had a big year ahead of him, and he still may.
To do that, he'll have to bounce back from what has been a rough two years.
Nardi is the latest subject of "Getting to Know the Fish," a Marlins Roundtable series profiling each Miami player.
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 215 pounds
Hometown: West Hills, California
Background: Baseball hasn't been good to Nardi since that 2023 season, his second with the Marlins and second in the major leagues. In 2024, his production fell off, and he ended the season with a 5.07 ERA. Nardi's 2025 season never happened due to a lower back injury, and although he's expected to return at some point in 2026, when that will happen and how much the injury will still impact Nardi will be big questions to ask.
The Marlins wouldn't have avoided arbitration with Nardi with a one-year deal in January if they didn't think he could help the team in 2026, so the potential is there.
Outlook: If Nardi can get back to full health, we've seen how effective he can be. An upper-90s fastball and a slider that produced a 35.5% whiff rate in 2023 make him a potentially dominant option. The best-case scenario for Nardi is to be Miami's setup man or, if Pete Fairbanks gets traded before the end of the season, maybe trying his hand at closer.
Nardi isn't going to be 28 until August, so there's plenty of time for him to get back on his feet. The Marlins are hoping that will happen in 2026.
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