Jesús Luzardo (back) heads to IL; Braxton Garrett (elbow) scratched from start

[Kevin Barral]

Rotation depth looked like it would be the strength of the Miami Marlins this season, but injuries have completely changed that.

MIAMI, FL—Dating back to spring training, the Miami Marlins have struggled to keep their starting pitchers healthy. That pattern continued on Saturday when they placed Jesús Luzardo on the 15-day IL due to a lumbar stress reaction and announced that Braxton Garrett was scratched from his scheduled start on Sunday due to left elbow discomfort.

Last season, Luzardo and Garrett were the two consistent members of the Marlins rotation, making 32 and 30 starts, respectively. However, it has been a completely different story in 2024. As we near the halfway mark of the regular season, they have combined for only 19 starts.

Luzardo's last start came against the Washington Nationals where he went five innings, surrendering two runs off of five hits and ended his outing with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two). The Venezuelan's average fastball velocity dipped to 92.1 mph, a huge drop-off from his season average of 95.2 mph.

"He's been feeling it for the last couple of weeks and then really felt discomfort the last start," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "It was time to get the imaging and figure out what's going on back there. It shows you what kind of competitor he is because he did not feel good at all. Still went five, wanted to go six. Probably had no business even starting that day."

Luzardo's previous IL stint for left elbow tightness was a short one (barely over the 15-day minimum), but Schumaker noted that this injury will keep him out for 4-6 weeks. That means he could remain sidelined through the July 30 trade deadline, so most likely, he'll be staying in Miami through the remainder of the season despite the constant rumors that have surrounded him.

Braxton Garrett has struggled for the most part this season. Aside from the shutout he tossed in Arizona, he's been averaging less than five innings per outing. Overall, he is posting a 5.35 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 8.3 K/9 and 1.0 BB/9 through 37 innings pitched. Garrett felt discomfort in his left elbow during his bullpen session on Friday and will undergo further testing.

Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez, Ryan Weathers, Edward Cabrera, Sixto Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo are now all on the injured list, with only Cabrera having a chance to return by the All-Star break.

"It's cliché, the 'next man up' type situation," said Schumaker. "I felt like I've said it maybe too many already this year, but it's kind of part of our story and our year and we got to figure out a way to win and different ways to win. We have (Shaun) Anderson going today, figure out who's going out on the mound tomorrow. Those guys out there in the bullpen are getting really, really good. I don't want to abuse them. They have a career as well that you have to be concerned with and worry about and making sure that they feel good as well. I've never seen a rotation this decimated before this early in the season."

The Marlins big league rotation currently consists of Trevor Rogers, Roddery Muñoz, Yonny Chirinos, Anderson and whoever Sunday's spot starter will be. 

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[Russell]

FO really bungled this one if they can’t get top end prospect talent for Luzardo.

 

[One Regend]

They should've traded Luzardo during the offseason. There, I said it.

They boned themselves by trying to feign "competitiveness." By not trading Luzardo in the offseason, they put themselves in the literal worst case scenario: Worst team in Baseball (I don't count the White Sox and Rockies as real baseball franchises), and has next to nothing to trade away to get prospects for the future. Now Luzardo sucks and is hurt, and now they can't get anything for him in return.

I thought they were on the right track by shipping Arraez at the start of May, but they had a winning record in May, and that somehow convinced them to not ship off any more pieces.

It's painful being a fan of a team that's bad and has no clue how to steer the team in the direction it needs to go.

[Russell]

Completely agree with the lack of direction, worst place to be is stuck in the middle indecisive.  Terrible team at the MLB level and by all accounts one of the worst farm systems as well, especially at the every day positional players, that has to be hard to accomplish.

No identity, no all stars. Perhaps Sanchez is a long-term keeper?

And Dillon Head already out for the year, lovely.

[Leo Armbrister]

Why is Max Myers still in Jacksonville. If he reaches the maximum pitches they have allotted for him shut him down then. If that is August or early September. What difference does it make. We have no shot at the playoffs. 

[Leo Armbrister]

Is Max Meyer injured or is he in the "dog house". There must be a rational explanation why he hasn't been recalled with all of these injuries to the Marlins pitching staff.

[Ely Sussman]

43 minutes ago, Leo Armbrister said:

Is Max Meyer injured or is he in the "dog house". There must be a rational explanation why he hasn't been recalled with all of these injuries to the Marlins pitching staff.

Depends on your definition of "rational," but July 21 is the magic date that Meyer can return while guaranteeing that his free agency gets pushed back a full year. Service time manipulation.

[Ely Sussman]

19 hours ago, One Regend said:

I thought they were on the right track by shipping Arraez at the start of May, but they had a winning record in May, and that somehow convinced them to not ship off any more pieces.

The timing of the Arraez trade was an anomaly. I don't think the May improvement convinced them of anything. It's just very difficult to get a deal done so early in the season.

I think I've commented about this before: contenders prefer to wait for more sellers to declare themselves. They aren't going to limit themselves to shopping for Marlins/White Sox/Rockies players when there will inevitably be more veteran players to choose from a month from now.

[MRDHU75]

20 hours ago, One Regend said:

They should've traded Luzardo during the offseason. There, I said it.

They boned themselves by trying to feign "competitiveness." By not trading Luzardo in the offseason, they put themselves in the literal worst case scenario: Worst team in Baseball (I don't count the White Sox and Rockies as real baseball franchises), and has next to nothing to trade away to get prospects for the future. Now Luzardo sucks and is hurt, and now they can't get anything for him in return.

I thought they were on the right track by shipping Arraez at the start of May, but they had a winning record in May, and that somehow convinced them to not ship off any more pieces.

It's painful being a fan of a team that's bad and has no clue how to steer the team in the direction it needs to go.

So f***ing true.

loss of words with this team

[Leo Armbrister]

52 minutes ago, Ely Sussman said:

Depends on your definition of "rational," but July 21 is the magic date that Meyer can return while guaranteeing that his free agency gets pushed back a full year. Service time manipulation.

If he's and his agent is smart they should negotiate any extention with the Marlins and recoup the money he is losing for being relegated to the minors when he is clearly ready. In fact I would not be surprised if the Marlins are unable to sign him to an extension.