Marlins left-hander Braxton Garrett was seemingly poised to be activated from the injured list to start tomorrow’s game against the Braves, but MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola was among those to note that the southpaw suffered a setback in his rehab today that will bring his 2024 season to a close. Garrett reportedly “felt something” in the back of his elbow after throwing a bullpen session yesterday, and the lefty is now set to undergo testing and turn his attention towards a healthy return to the mound in 2025.
The 2024 season has been one to forget for Garrett. The 27-year-old southpaw seemed poised to enter the season as one of the club’s most promising starters after pitching to a solid 3.63 ERA (124 ERA+) with a near-matching 3.64 FIP in a combined 247 2/3 innings of work for the Marlins over the previous two seasons. Unfortunately, no such successful campaign came to fruition as the lefty dealt with shoulder issues that sidelined him for the first six weeks of the season.
Upon returning to the club’s rotation on May 12, Garrett’s performance was mixed with several starts where he was shelled despite strong peripheral numbers with occasional dominant performances mixed in such as his four-hit, complete-game shutout of the Diamondbacks in his third start of the year. Overall, the lefty pitched to a lackluster 5.35 ERA in 37 innings of work across seven starts this year despite fantastic peripheral numbers, including a 2.5% walk rate and a 51.3% ground ball rate that gave him a 3.82 FIP and a 3.46 SIERA for his work this year.
It’s possible that his results would’ve eventually caught up to his strong peripherals had he been able to pitch more this season, but the lefty was placed on the injured list in late June due to elbow soreness that was eventually diagnosed as a forearm flexor strain. That proved to be his final start in the majors this year, though he began a rehab assignment earlier this month and had carved up minor league opponents with 15 strikeouts across 10 2/3 innings of work before suffering yesterday’s setback, suggesting his repertoire was in a relatively good place despite the long layoff.
Unfortunately, that layoff now figures to get even longer. While the results of Garrett’s testing have not yet been made clear, the club is now looking towards the 2025 season for the lefty’s return to action. With a 57-97 record, it’s been a disastrous season in Miami but the club does have some reasons to expect…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at MLB Trade Rumors…