Missing Opening Day a foregone conclusion for Braxton Garrett

WEST PALM BEACH, FL—Following the best season of his MLB career, in which he pitched to a 3.66 ERA in 159.2 IP, Braxton Garrett was almost guaranteed to break camp as a member of the Marlins' starting rotation. That no longer seems realistic.

The first sign of trouble came on February 16 when Braxton had originally been scheduled to throw his first bullpen but ended up being removed from the list on short notice. Skip Schumaker informed the media the following day that Brax was dealing with "minor soreness in his throwing shoulder." Braxton mentioned that this was the first time in his career that he had ever dealt with any kind of shoulder issue.

Braxton then threw a light bullpen on February 21 and what Skip called his first "real" bullpen on February 26. When he spoke to the media following that bullpen session, Skip alluded to the possibility of the lefty not being ready for the March 28 Opening Day roster, noting that he would still need to throw a few more bullpens and live BPs before getting into any game action. 

The final nail in the coffin came Tuesday morning when Skip said, "I don't think you're gonna be seeing him to start the season. Opening Day is gonna be tough for him. I'm not going to push somebody that has a bit of a shoulder thing going on. He feels great now, but he needs to ramp up."

Following his latest bullpen session, Braxton told the media about his recovery and progression: "Bullpen felt good. Starting to feel back to normal. My shoulder is bouncing back really well. Feel like I'm in a much better spot than when I showed up."

He also said of dealing with the mental aspect of recovery, "It was tougher early on in the offseason when I couldn't just kick it. But now I feel really good. It just feels nice to go and throw a bullpen and feel great. So I'm just focusing on that and just trying to continue feeling good."

Braxton's temporary absence creates a clear path for converted reliever A.J. Puk to slot into the rotation to begin the season. Puk has looked very good so far in his spring appearances, striking out nine of 19 total batters faced (47.4%) without allowing a run.

Once Garrett's ramp-up is complete, the Marlins will have a fascinating decision to make.