The Miami Marlins will be looking for some starting pitchers to take steps forward this upcoming season. This could especially be useful as The Fish's rivals may have issues, that can prevent them from being as good as they were in 2023. In the meantime, there were alarming injury news that we now have updates on.
Will Braxton Garrett be able to stay healthy this upcoming season for the Miami Marlins?
Braxton Garrett was a revelation for the Miami Marlins in 2023. Garrett was worth an impressive 3.8 WAR, after he produced a 3.66 ERA/3.68 FIP, with 8.8 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9, in 31 games and 159.2 innings pitched. It was a pretty impressive season, that solidified Garrett as at least a mid-rotation arm, with upside.
It was reported that Garrett had shoulder soreness earlier this off-season. This was terrible news and hinted at a possibility of a serious injury. It appears as if there may be some positives on the horizon. Manager Skip Schumaker said that Garrett is back to throwing regular bullpen sessions. This means that he appears to be back on track in his preparation for the season.
I'm very hopeful that Braxton Garrett's shoulder soreness is done and that it was never too serious to begin with. Losing Garrett for any significant amount of time would simply be catastrophic for The Fish. My guess is that he still won't pitch too many innings this season, as in less than last season. That said, I may be overly cautious as these are very positive news so far.
The other major update is on Trevor Rogers. The former ace is one of the arms that can drastically change how the Miami Marlins do this season. Rogers produced a 2.64 ERA/2.55 FIP, with 10.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9, in 25 games and 133.0 innings pitched. He couldn't stay healthy since, producing a 5.47 ERA/4.35 FIP, with 8.9 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 23 games and 107.0 innings pitched. In 2023, he produced a 4.00 ERA/4.09 FIP, with 9.5 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9, in 4 games and 18.0 innings pitched.
Skip Schumaker said about Rogers:
“ was throwing 93-94 mph in a setting with not much adrenaline.”
This is very good news as it implies that Trevor Rogers may finally be healthy. I truly believe that a healthy version of Rogers can be a front of the rotation arm. Time will tell whether he and Braxton Garrett are truly finally healthy. Let's hope so in the meantime.