Feel-good storylines are hard to find on a club that had a 67-95 record. One of the few on the 2021 Miami Marlins was the meteoric rise of reliever Anthony Bender.
Early in his professional career, the right-hander labored through the Royals and Brewers’ farm systems, where he posted a 3.30 ERA over 239 2⁄3 innings but averaged less than a strikeout per inning (7.4).
With no minor league season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bender found himself pitching in independent baseball for the Milwaukee Milkmen. Frankly, there wasn’t much about his production that hinted at a career turnaround.