Miami Marlins’ rotation is stacked, but Braxton Garrett is ‘ready to compete for a job’
Last season, Braxton Garrett was disappointed when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. The Miami Marlins’ left-handed pitcher and former first-round pick thought he was finally at the point in his career where he was ready, finally ready, to be a guy the Marlins could rely on every fifth day.
He ultimately got that chance in June and stayed on the big-league roster the rest of the way outside of an injured list stint for a right oblique strain that sidelined him for a month.
And after a breakout close to the 2022 season once he was called up and given his first extended look at the MLB level, Garrett has a set goal in mind this spring training.
“I definitely want to make the roster out of camp,” Garrett said Monday after throwing his first live batting practice session of camp. “It would be my first time. I feel great. My stuff’s coming out really well, but I know it’s not just a given just because I had a good year. I’m coming in ready to prove it and show that I have the same stuff as last year — or better. Just ready to compete for a job. I know it’s not going to be given.”
Especially when looking at the state of the Marlins’ rotation. Sandy Alcantara, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, leads the group. The team signed veteran Johnny Cueto this offseason. Lefty Jesus Luzardo and righty Edward Cabrera seem to be locks as well.
Manager Skip Schumaker also praised Trevor Rogers, calling the lanky lefty the player he was most excited to watch “maybe of anybody in camp this year because there’s some extra motivation behind there” after Rogers struggled in 2022.
And that doesn’t even begin to factor in the Marlins’ prospects waiting in the wings — Eury Perez, Dax Fulton and (health permitting) Sixto Sanchez.
“We have so many good pitchers,” Garrett said. “Every spring training, we all come in here expecting a competition. I think that it’s the same way for a lot of us this year. It’s just a little more heightened.”
One route that could increase Garrett’s chances of cracking the Opening Day roster is a six-man rotation. The Marlins are discussing it if the move would help them win games.
“It can’t be development,” pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said. “It needs to be ‘win now.’ We are confident with those six guys all fighting for spots, too.”
Garrett fits that billing.
In 17 starts last season, Garrett pitched to a 3.58 ERA with 90 strikeouts against 24 walks while holding opponents to a .254 batting average against and 1.25 walks and hits per innings pitched over 88 innings.
He held opponents to three earned runs or fewer while pitching at least five innings in seven of his final 12 starts.
Garrett relied heavily last season on his slider and both fastballs (a four-seam and a sinker), throwing those three pitches a combined 79.8 percent of the time. He also has a curveball and a changeup in his arsenal that he threw about 10 percent of the time last season that he hopes to incorporate more this season.
“It definitely helped my confidence, for sure,” Garrett said. “Just coming into this year, I know I have the ability to do it with just the stuff that I had last year and I’m coming into camp thinking that I’m better.”
Praise for Perez
Perez, the Marlins’ No. 1 prospect and a consensus top-15 prospect in all of baseball, also threw his first live batting practice session of camp on Monday, and it didn’t take long for the 19-year-old to impress.
“He’s nasty,” infielder and reigning American League batting champion Luis Arraez said. “He looked like a veteran there, but I know he’s Sandy’s son. He tried to be [like] Sandy.”
Perez said he threw 25 pitches on Monday and is working primarily on his slider and changeup during spring training.
This story was originally published February 20, 2023 at 1:42 PM.
.JPG)