Garrett’s Complete Game Shutout Provides Blueprint for Marlins
The Miami Marlins have gotten back to what they’re all about.
When the Marlins started off the season losing nine of their first ten games en route to a 6-24 start, there were a lot of things that stood out as glaring weaknesses in the roster - the offense being unable to score in extra innings, the bullpen blowing leads late, and some subpar starts from the rotation.
This hasn’t all been fixed during Miami’s 8-3 stretch that started with May 12th’s defeat of the Philadelphia Phillies to avoid a sweep and continued last night with a 3-0 defeat of the Arizona Diamondbacks out in the desert...but it’s better.
The biggest change has been from the starting pitching. Ryan Weathers threw eight scoreless innings on May 14th versus the Detroit Tigers, with Trevor Rogers giving five more scoreless the next day. Jesús Luzardo channeled Weathers and went eight scoreless himself against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday at home.
In this winning streak, Miami’s pitching staff as a whole has pitched to a 2.91 ERA, throwing almost 66% strikes and giving up only four homers. As we mentioned above, several of the outings from the starters have been extended and scoreless.
And Braxton Garrett took it almost as far as possible, pitching a complete game shutout in Arizona against the Diamondbacks last night. It’s significant not only because it’s the best start of the young lefty’s career, coming in only his third outing after shoulder trouble relegated him to the injured list to start the year, but also for who was on the other side of the matchup: former Marlins prospect Zac Gallen.
Gallen, 28, was acquired by Miami from the team that drafted him, the St. Louis Cardinals, along with Sandy Alcantara and two other prospects for outfielder Marcell Ozuna in 2017. But after just seven major league starts for Gallen, Miami flipped him to Arizona in 2019 for then shortstop, now centerfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Gallen’s gone on to become one of the better starters in baseball since the trade, with two top-five Cy Young finishes and another 9th-place finish, as well as down-ballot MVP votes last season after going 17-9 with a 3.47 ERA.
But for one night, the 26-year-old Garrett was better.
Garrett’s 1st career shutout last night came in at under 100 pitches, with the lefty scattering four hits while striking out six and not walking anyone in just 95 pitches for a “Maddux”.
(Named for Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, a “Maddux” is a complete game shutout in less than one hundred pitches. The eponymous Atlanta Braves righthander had the most since MLB started tracking pitch counts, 1988, achieving the feat thirteen times in his career.)
"It's awesome," Garrett told MLB.com after the game. "I wasn't expecting to do that today, but I did expect to start trending upwards. The lines in my last two weren't great, obviously, but I felt like there was a lot of good in them in the middle of those games. So just trying to put it all together. We talked about the first inning: I really tried to focus and stay locked in for that first inning and just get through it and then see what happens instead of giving up three or two runs, and putting myself in a hole. So getting that zero was huge."
The reference to his first two starts - Garrett wasn’t kidding when he said the lines weren’t great: In home starts against the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets, he combined for 9.2 innings with eleven runs allowed on twelve hits, an opposing batting average allowed of .293 and a .822 OPS.
But he was masterful on Friday night, mixing six pitches to get eleven whiffs and a 34% CSW. Over 80% of his pitches were strikes, and allowing only one runner to get into scoring position in the entire game.
In a Saturday morning rewatch, the sinker stands out as a particular right spot for Garrett. Facing righties Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Christian Walker, who both hit lefties well, he consistently used it to induce ground balls, holding the duo to a combined 1-8 night (a Walker 1st-inning single, although Gurriel did reach on a fielding error in the 1st, as well.)
It’s not perfect - owing to Garrett’s below-average velocity, maxing out at 92.2 mph with the four-seam fastball - he still allowed plenty of hard-hit balls (including four to Walker), but the defense did enough to erase the threats. Burger redeemed himself for the error on Guerriel’s batted ball in the first by making the inning-ending out at third base on a sharply-hit cutter by Randal Grichuk, while a 5th-inning Blaze Alexander single was erased by a 3-6 double play the very next at-bat.
"That was electric," said Burger after the game. "He's a dog, and every time he has a ball in his hands, we feel really good about it. Tonight, he was strutting with confidence the entire time and just doing his thing, and it was awesome to play behind. Seeing him do that, obviously [he] didn't start the season like he wanted to on the IL, and he comes out here and throws a gem. It's awesome seeing him back into his true form."
Managing Editor for Blackerby Media, covering the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins Also: Senior Baseball Writer for Auburn Daily, member of both the National College Baseball Writers Association and Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (where he won the 2023 Prospects, Minors, & College Writer of the Year award)