Why the Miami Marlins are being cautious with Braxton Garrett to start spring training

The Miami Marlins are being cautious with one of their primary starting pitchers in the early going of spring training.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker on Friday said left-handed pitcher Braxton Garrett is dealing with “general soreness” in his throwing shoulder, and the Marlins “didn’t feeling feel like we needed to push it on the mound.”

“We’ll monitor it as he goes,” Schumaker said, “and push him back until he feels better and we figure out what’s going on.”

Garrett played catch Thursday and Friday but was off to the side and being monitors by team trainers during the session. Schumaker said Garrett has been dealing with the soreness for “a little bit, but nothing to where it’s too specific on exactly what it is and it’s just more of a ‘Let’s not push anything.’”

“It’s not like he’s shut down,” Schumaker said. “We just didn’t really feel like it was time to push it in a bullpen.”

Garrett, 26, began the 2023 season as Miami’s long reliever but ended up as one of the Marlins’ most consistent starters.

In 31 games (30 starts), he went 9-7 with a 3.66 ERA and set career highs in innings pitched (159 2/3) and strikeouts (156) while holding opponents to a .250 batting average against and 1.15 walks and hits per inning pitched.

Garrett pitched at least five innings in 23 of his 30 starts and held opponents to two earned runs or fewer in 16 of those 23 outings.

He’s expected to be a big part of the Marlins’ rotation again in 2024, especially with ace Sandy Alcantara sidelined for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October.

The balance with players returning from injury

Among pitchers in big-league camp, there are four returning from injuries that either limited their production in 2023 or held them out for the season all together.

Trevor Rogers’ 2023 season ended after just four starts and 18 innings. Max Meyer and Anthony Bender never had a chance to compete last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. And Sixto Sanchez has been dealing with an assortment of injuries that have kept him off the big-league roster for the past three years.

All four have a chance to various degrees to make an impact on the team in 2024, but Schumaker also acknowledged there’s a balancing act for the four in regard to how quickly to ramp them up.

“It’s probably more mental than the physical,” Schumaker said, “because they are healthy physically and trying to get over that mental hurdle of what if they throw too hard or throw too much [or] it’s just gonna happen again. It’s more of a mental hurdle than anything, but you’re out there to compete. This is the big leagues and nothing’s given to you. So you’re you’re gonna have to earn it especially in that clubhouse, especially from our staff, so I don’t anticipate anybody being in cruise control.”

Here’s where things stand with all four of those pitchers.

▪ Rogers: Schumaker expects him to be a key part of Miami’s Alcantara-less rotation. Rogers is two years removed from finishing as runner-up for National League Rookie of the Year. Since then, he had a poor 2022 season (5.47 ERA over 23 starts and 107 innings) and the injury-shortened 2023.

But the 26-year-old lefty could be a boon for the Marlins if he can return to form with a four-seam fastball that hits 95 mph and a slider and changeup that can induce swings and misses.

▪ Bender: The 29-year-old righty reliever made an immediate impact in 2021 before a pair of injuries — first his hip and then his right elbow — sidetracked his 2022 and kept him out for 2023.

He’s a legitimate high-leverage reliever with a sinker that averages about 97 mph and a slider with a career 44.4-percent swing-and-miss rate.

▪ Meyer: Miami’s first-round pick in 2020, Meyer made his MLB debut in 2022 but made it just two starts before blowing out his right elbow and needing Tommy John surgery.

Now healthy, the Marlins are continuing to have Meyer build up as a starting pitcher as camp continues.

▪ Sanchez: It’s essentially do-or-die time now for Sanchez, the centerpiece of the Marlins’ trade with the Phillies that sent catcher J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia. Sanchez showed great promise when he made his MLB debut in 2020, but a pair of shoulder surgeries and nearly endless setbacks have kept him off an MLB mound since then.

Sanchez is out of minor-league options, meaning he has to make the roster or start the season on the MLB injured list to stay on the Marlins’ 40-man roster.

He threw a bullpen on Thursday, but Schumaker said Sanchez is “gonna have to progress.”

“That’s the reality,” Schumaker said. “He’s in big-league camp. He’s got a chance just like anybody else, but he’s gonna have to show something.”