Marlins lose Garrett for 2025 after left elbow surgery

MIAMI -- Marlins left-hander Braxton Garrett will miss the 2025 season following a left elbow UCL revision surgery with an internal brace. The procedure was performed by Dr. Keith Meister on Dec. 16 in Arlington.

Ahead of the Winter Meetings in early December, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said, "We're still hopeful and optimistic about Braxton, but we don't have an update beyond that."

It’s a disappointing conclusion for Garrett, who dealt with arm trouble throughout the 2024 season following a breakout 2023 campaign.

The 27-year-old Garrett showed up to Spring Training with general shoulder soreness and began the season on the injured list with a left shoulder impingement. He then experienced “dead arm” during a between-starts bullpen session while on rehab assignment in mid-April, which delayed his season debut until May 12.

Before being scratched from his June 23 outing due to left elbow discomfort after a pre-start bullpen session, Garrett went 2-2 with a 5.35 ERA across 37 innings in seven starts. During that stretch, he tossed a Maddux against the D-backs in Arizona.

But Garrett remained sidelined for the remainder of the season with a left forearm flexor strain after he felt something on the back of his elbow following a bullpen session on Sept. 20. Prior to that development, the expectation was for Garrett to be reinstated from the 60-day IL to start the club's home series finale against the Braves at loanDepot park.

At the beginning of the offseason, Garrett received a second opinion on his arm and was diagnosed with a left elbow impingement. He had been proceeding with a throwing progression at the Marlins' player development complex in Jupiter, Fla., with the expectation that he would be ready for the start of Spring Training if all went well with the program.

Selected seventh overall in the 2016 MLB Draft, Garrett underwent Tommy John surgery as the organization's then-top-ranked prospect in June 2017, which wiped out his 2018 season.

Following Garrett's most recent surgery and Jesús Luzardo's departure via trade, Miami's starting-pitching options on the 40-man roster are as follows: right-handers Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Max Meyer, Valente Bellozo, Xzavion Curry and Adam Mazur (Marlins No. 12 prospect) as well as left-handers Ryan Weathers and Dax Fulton (No. 28 prospect), who is coming off his second Tommy John surgery and hasn't pitched above the Double-A level. Southpaw Robby Snelling isn’t on the 40-man roster, but he concluded his 2024 season with a strong showing at Triple-A Jacksonville.

There are still free-agent options on the market should the Marlins look to bolster their depth with a veteran arm to eat up innings.