How a simple message from teammates helped spark Braxton Garrett’s breakout for Marlins

It was an outing to forget, and Braxton Garrett really wanted to forget it.

May 3. Home against the Atlanta Braves. His fifth start of the season after the Miami Marlins won each of the first four games he started on the mound.

Garrett had a clean first inning, retiring the top of the Braves’ vaunted lineup in order.

And then, the disastrous second frame. Seven consecutive batters reached base to begin the inning. Two hit home runs, including a Marcell Ozuna hitting a grand slam. Ultimately, Garrett gave up seven runs in that frame and 11 overall in just 4 1/3 innings in the worst outing of his MLB career.

“Pitches weren’t good,” Garrett said after the outing. “Everything stunk.”

Garrett’s confidence was shaken. He was trying not to let doubt creep in. He had shown his talent before. One bad outing couldn’t erase all that had preceded it, right?

During the next couple days, catcher Jacob Stallings and shortstop Joey Wendle gave Garrett some words of encouragement.

Keep your head up. You’re a good pitcher. You will bounce back.

Simple in their message, but powerful in their impact.

“That was huge in the moment,” Garrett said, reflecting back. “I don’t think they know how big that was for me. I didn’t want to come back to the park the next day.”

Since then? Garrett has been arguably the best pitcher in the Marlins’ rotation during a time when the rotation is being tested. Three members of the Opening Day rotation are on the injured list in Johnny Cueto (first right biceps and then an ankle injury), Trevor Rogers (first a left biceps injury and now a right lat strain) and Edward Cabrera (right shoulder impingement). Miami needs its remaining healthy starting pitchers to step up. Garrett has done so.

His latest gem came Thursday in the Marlins’ 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates when he became the first left-handed pitcher in Marlins history to strike out 13 batters and walk none while pitching a season-high seven innings. He struck out five of the first six batters he faced, maneuvered around a mini three-batter sequence in the fourth during which he gave up the two runs and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.

“He continues to impress,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said.

It’s the latest shining moment in a month and a half full of shining moments for the 25-year-old lefty.

During his past nine starts since the blowout by Atlanta, Garrett has pitched to a 2.50 ERA, giving up just 14 earned runs over 50 1/3 innings while striking out 68 and walking just nine. He has held opponents to two runs or fewer in seven of his nine starts and Miami has a 7-2 record in that span when he’s on the mound.

“I see it,” Garrett said of his improvement. “I know I’ve pitched pretty well, but I’ve said it a million times, I just try not to get too high or get too low. I just know how hard this game is and it can come back and punch me in the face. But it’s just been a buildup of getting better and learning to pitch.”

It’s not just learning to pitch. Garrett has been adding pitches to his arsenal and tweaking his repertoire ever since the Marlins selected him seventh overall in the 2016 MLB Draft out of Florence High in Alabama. At that point, Garrett really only had a four-seam fastball and curveball. Now, he throws five pitches. The four-seam fastball has been scrapped for a cutter that he started throwing this season and he also has a sinker and changeup to go along with the curveball.

Garrett needs the variety of pitches because he’s not going to blow away anybody with velocity. His sinker only averages 89.9 mph.

But Garrett’s advantage is being able to attack hitters from all directions when all of his pitches are on point. He goes primarily sinker-slider in lefty-lefty matchups but mixes in the other three pitches well against right-handed batters. He throws the cutter high and inside to set up the changeup and curveball, both of which he throws low and away to righties. The slider, which has resulted in 47 of his 80 strikeouts, goes low and in to righties.

Learning how to sequence his pitches and keep opponents guessing has given him an advantage.

“We’re getting a lot of strikeouts looking just off deception — cutting them in and then sinking them back in the same lane,” Garrett said. “It’s something I never though of coming into this year. Yeah. Just learning how my pitches play off of each other and getting ahead in counts has been huge.”

Added catcher Nick Fortes, who has been behind the plate for all of Garrett’s starts this season: “He’s just refined everything. He’s always had good stuff, but he’s just narrowed his focus and his command and what he can do with the baseball. He has all quadrants of the zone locked down right now. He keeps hitters off balance, gives them a lot of different looks. He’s really tightened everything up.”

Pretty good considering what the team envisioned Garrett’s role being when the season started. He made the Opening Day roster as the Marlins’ long reliever, then was optioned to Triple A Jacksonville four games into the season only to be brought back up one day later after Cueto landed on the injured list with a right biceps injury. Garrett has been part of the rotation ever since.

“We put him through a lot that first couple of weeks,” Schumaker said. “After that one start against Atlanta, he has been as good as anybody in our rotation.”

Outside of potentially top prospect Eury Perez, the numbers certainly support that. Here’s how the rest of Miami’s rotation has fared since May 4, the day after Garrett’s outing against the Braves.

▪ Sandy Alcantara (nine starts): 60 1/3 innings pitched, 5.07 ERA, 47 strikeouts, 17 walks, .258 batting average against

▪ Jesus Luzardo (nine starts): 50 innings pitched, 4.50 ERA, 56 strikeouts, 11 walks, .254 batting average against.

▪ Eury Perez (eight starts): 41 innings pitched, 1.54 ERA, 45 strikeouts, 14 walks, .182 batting average against.

▪ Edward Cabrera (eight starts): 40 innings pitched, 4.73 ERA, 48 strikeouts, 16 walks, .212 batting average against.

“This guy can really pitch,” Schumaker said. “I think it should show some of our guys in the rotation when you can pitch. If you have stuff and pitch, you’ll be an All-Star. He might be an All-Star. He’s pitching like one and putting together some really good outings for us.”