MIAMI – The Miami Marlins today acquired left-handed reliever A.J. Puk from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for outfielder JJ Bleday.
Puk, 27, went 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA (66.1 IP/23 ER) over 62 relief appearances in his first full season with Oakland in 2022 and led the Athletics bullpen with 76 strikeouts. He posted a career-best 1.15 WHIP, 3.30 K/BB and 3.12 BB/9 marks, while holding opponents to a .217 batting average (only 19 extra-base hits), which included holding left-handed hitters to a .153 average (three extra-base hits).
In parts of three Major League seasons with the A’s, Puk owns a career 3.56 ERA, 1.264 WHIP, and 105 strikeouts in 91.0 innings In 2017, Puk was named the A’s Organization Pitcher of The Year, ranking third in all of Minor League baseball with 184 strikeouts. He was ranked the club’s No. 1 prospect after the 2017 season, during which he was selected to participate in the Futures Game and was named a MiLB.com Organizational All-Star.
Puk was selected in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft by Oakland out of the University of Florida. Born in Minneapolis, Minn., the southpaw was rated as the A’s No. 2 prospect by Baseball America following the 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020 seasons.
Miami begins the 2023 regular season on Thursday, March 30, facing the New York Mets at 4:10 p.m. on Opening Day at loanDepot park. Fans can catch Marlins Baseball this season by securing their seats at Marlins.com/Tickets.
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