ATLANTA _ Fernando Rodney will keep the arrow sheathed for the most part, at least initially with the Miami Marlins.
The veteran reliever, with 253 saves in a 14-year career, said upon joining the club Friday that he has no problem with accepting a set-up role in the bullpen after being informed that A.J. Ramos will continue as closer.
"I'll have a situation to close the game, and I'll be available too. But the eighth inning is going to be my role. You're going to see me there," he said after meeting with manager Don Mattingly. "Yeah, I'm good."
Going into Friday's game against the Braves, Ramos had converted all 24 save chances this season and was tied for the Marlins record with 33 consecutive saves since in 2015.
"He's been perfect. He's been really good for us," Mattingly said. "It would be hard for me to take that out of our mix. Our back end has been good. Fernando makes us better.
"Talking with him, he was great. ... Like I told him, if he was the guy here that has not blown one I would do the same thing for him."
Rodney was also perfect in converting all 17 save chances with the Padres before Thursday's trade. Each one was punctuated with his trademark finishing touch in which he pantomimes reaching behind his upper back to pull out an imaginary arrow and shooting it into the sky. It is his signal that the game is over and a win in the bag.
"The arrow, I'm going to save the arrow right now," he said. "But if you have a chance, you're going to see (it) landing."
There will likely be opportunities when Ramos needs a breather. That is the luxury Mattingly will have with two bonafide closers.
The addition of Rodney, who has a 0.31 ERA in 281/3 innings, adds depth to a late-inning relief corps that includes David Phelps and Kyle Barraclough.
"We feel like you should have a couple guys available every day if we're putting ourselves in winning situations every day," Mattingly said. "We're able to, if you really wanted to, to start with the sixth inning and going one (inning) at a time if you had to."
Moving to a set-up role isn't the only adjustment Rodney will have to make. He arrived with a full beard, but said he will conform to the Marlins' rule of no facial hair imposed this season.
"That's the rule they have here," he said. "I like to play baseball and have fun. I don't worry nothing about shaving. Have fun with my teammates. Play good. Play hard. That's it."
At 39, Rodney isn't the oldest member of the Marlins. That distinction belongs to Ichiro Suzuki, 42, who got the 4,257th hit of his career counting time in Japan off Rodney on June 15 in San Diego to unofficially pass Pete Rose's major league total.
Asked it he would sign the ball for Ichiro, now that they're teammates, Rodney said. "I'm not going to sign the ball. He's a good guy. Good teammate. He's a good player. He's working hard to get to that level and keep doing what he's doing. That's a lot of base hits."
