Inside 'an exciting day' for Braxton Garrett as he vies for open Marlins rotation spot

[Kevin Barral]

JUPITER, FL—The Miami Marlins adjusted their approach to spring training in 2025, putting their players in competitive environments from day one. That has carried over into 2026. With pitchers and catchers reporting to camp for the first time on Wednesday, left-hander Braxton Garrett was thrown into the fire despite missing all of last year recovering from elbow UCL surgery. He was among a small group of Marlins pitchers who threw live batting practice sessions.

Garrett hasn't appeared in a major league game since early in the 2024 season. In seven starts, he posted a 5.35 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 8.27 K/9 and 0.97 BB/9.

The long layoff has been "tough," he admitted to the media on Wednesday morning, "but as I've said a couple times, my teammates, just being around in Miami, the new facilities we have down there really made it a lot easier. My (physical therapist), Mike Chamberlain, really made it easy for me. Worked with me on a schedule that was comfortable for me...Thanks to the organization, it wasn't as bad as it could be."

Agustín Ramírez caught Garrett and the opposing batters were Graham Pauley, Liam Hicks, Javier Sanoja and Connor Norby. "I was talking to him after and was just telling him to continue going through the process and he's looking really good," Ramírez said, noting that the 28-year-old used most of his pitch mix, including his changeup, slider and cutter.

"He went through a lot last year, trying to come back, and it's good seeing him back on the mound," Pauley said. "It looks good and ready to compete."

Although Garrett has been in the Marlins organization for a while and showed he could hold up as a quality starter for a full-length season in 2023, he believes nothing is "going to be handed to me." He feels like he needs to earn back his spot in the rotation.

"I worked really hard this offseason," Garrett said. "I'm really excited. Here to compete, do the best I can and help the team the best I can."

Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez and newly signed Chris Paddack are viewed as locks for the Marlins Opening Day rotation. That leaves Garrett battling with the likes of Max Meyer, Janson Junk, Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur and others for the two unclaimed spots.

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough considered this "an exciting day" for both Garrett and lefty reliever Andrew Nardi on their journey to re-establish themselves coming off injuries. "We'll just go from each outing they have and see how those two in particular just continue to respond, recover and help us map out and guide what's next."

 

Additional Notes

- Outside of Garrett, Max Meyer, Cade Gibson and Josh Ekness also threw live BP sessions. Nardi, Tyler Phillips, Zach Brzykcy and Nigel Belgrave each threw pitch design sessions.

- Every Marlins pitcher and catcher reported on Wednesday except for Calvin Faucher, who is awaiting the verdict of his arbitration hearing. McCullough expects him in camp this weekend.

- The workload for World Baseball Classic participants will be different. "We'll ramp them up here early in camp and not try to push the gas too much because what's coming," McCullough said.

- Outside of the WBC position players, some notables who have reported early are Xavier Edwards, Graham Pauley, Griffin Conine, Connor Norby, Maximo Acosta, Daniel Johnson, Dillon Lewis, Brendan Jones, Fenwick Trimble, Andrew Pintar and Kemp Alderman.

- Following the workout, the Marlins reached an agreement with left-handed reliever(!!!) John King on a one-year, $1.5M deal.

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Garrett returns with nothing but upside, and the Marlins are in an enviable cost position with him. In addition, the team's pitching composition allows it to manage Garrett's workload as he eases back to form. Along with Norby and Conine, I like Garrett as top Marlins improvement/comeback candidates for the upcoming season 

[Miller Lepree]

I felt like Brax was ready to make a leap in 24. Still think about this start:

Hope he bounces back strong this year. Think the extra time off bodes well. 

[BMK3]

His surgery was so long ago that he was able to not push or be under pressure to return.  That should allow for very well controlled rehab that is now done.

[Ely Sussman]

On 2/12/2026 at 11:52 AM, BMK3 said:

His surgery was so long ago that he was able to not push or be under pressure to return.  That should allow for very well controlled rehab that is now done.

Wish it was that simple. Sandy for example had a full 1.5 years between his elbow surgery and regular season return, and it still took a couple months beyond that for him to be serviceable again.

Every athlete's body recovers a bit differently.