The Miami Marlins are building up pitching depth, as a lot will depend on the rotation in this upcoming season. MLB.com gave us their projection of what it will likely look like by the time the season starts. It's not much of a secret, as I think most of us following the team have already projected it the same way. By the way, have you seen the projected lineup and batting order?
How does the projected Miami Marlins rotation look like for this upcoming season?
Starting off the rotation is of course Jesus Luzardo. Luzardo had a 3.52 ERA/3.40 FIP, with 10.6 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9, in 50 games and 279.0 innings pitched. Luzardo has been a part of trade rumors all off-season, but it's probably unlikely that he gets traded at this point. He's a solid top of the rotation arm however.
Eury Perez will likely pitch second. The formerly elite prospect debuted last season and produced a 3.15 ERA/4.11 FIP, with 10.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9, in 19 games and 91.1 innings pitched. He won't pitch much more then perhaps 120 innings in 2023, but those should be strong innings, barring a sophomore slump.
Braxton Garrett will likely go third. He broke out during the 2023 season, producing 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. He's a solid #3 starter with potential to be a #2. There's some worrying news about him however that I'll cover later today.
Rounding out the rotation will be two arms that come with question marks. Edward Cabrera has been the subject of trade rumors himself, but is going to be very interesting to watch this upcoming season. He produced a 4.24 ERA/4.43 FIP, with 10.7 K/9 and 6.0 BB/9, in 22 games and 99.2 innings pitched. He was much better in 2022, when he produced a 3.01 ERA/4.59 FIP, with 9.4 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9, in 14 games and 71.2 innings pitched.
The other arm is Trevor Rogers. He looked like an ace in 2021, when he produced a 2.64 ERA/2.55 FIP, with 8.9 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9, in 23 games and 107.0 innings pitched. He was vastly different from 2022-2023 due to injuries, producing a 5.26 ERA/4.32 FIP, with 9.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 27 games and 125.0 innings pitched. It remains to be seen how he will do in 2024, as well as how healthy he will actually be. He won't get much more than 120 innings regardless.
The Miami Marlins rotation has potential with Jesus Luzardo and Eury Perez at the top, along with upside from the rest.