Braxton Garrett

Garrett (2-4) took the loss against Cincinnati on Wednesday, pitching five innings and allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out eight. Garrett looked to be headed for an early exit after giving up four runs in the first inning, but he surrendered only one more over the remainder of his appearance and was able to complete five frames. However, the Marlins offense was unable to provide enough runs to overcome the early deficit, handling Garrett his fourth loss of the campaign. Prior to Wednesday, the left-hander appeared to be putting everything together, allowing just five runs while posting a 25:5 K:BB over his past 25 innings across four starts.

It's been a while since we've taken stock of the waiver wire, what with the All-Star break and all. Between breakout lefties (Reid Detmers, Braxton Garrett), rehabilitating strikeout artists (Jesus Luzardo, Dustin May) and recent call-ups (Nick Pratto, J.J. Bleday), there's no shortage of exciting possibilities. Let's examine 10 of...

Happy Monday, everyone! It was a wild weekend in baseball specifically if you're a fan of the Yankees and shoo-in MVP Aaron Judge. Now, while I reference him as a shoo-in, I think a fair case can actually be made that Shohei Ohtani has been more valuable -- who else gives you elite pitching and close to that (this year at least) with the bat? But it's only fair to acknowledge the mastery that has been Judge with the bat this season and that continued over the weekend. Judge ripped off four homers with 11 RBI, six runs and a stolen base over his past five games. That includes a stretch where he went 11 for 20 at the dish. I may be the biggest Ohtani defender you'll find, but even I can't make any kind of compelling case to keep the AL MVP away from Judge. It's truly special watching him do this in a contract season.

The first weekend after the All-Star break is one that different leagues handle in different ways. The default CBS setting is to treat it as its own four-day scoring period, with a new full-length one beginning Monday, but it's not uncommon to combine those four days with the following week for a supersized 11-day scoring period.

Garrett allowed two hits and two walks while striking out 11 across six scoreless innings Thursday against the Pirates. He did not factor into the decision. Garrett dominated the Pirates and struck out a career-high 11 batters on the strength of 23 swinging strikes across 102 total pitches. After completing at least five innings only once in his first five starts this season, Garrett has done so in each of his last three outings. In that same three-start span, he's maintained a 1.89 ERA with an 18:4 K:BB across 19 frames.

Garrett allowed three runs on three hits and one walk while striking out three over 5.2 innings against the Mets on Saturday. He did not factor in the decision. All of the damage against Garrett came by way of the home run -- he served up a solo blast to Pete Alonso in the fourth inning and a two-run homer to Francisco Lindor in the sixth. The latter long ball spelled the end of Garrett's outing, but he fared fairly well overall, giving up a season-low three total hits. The southpaw has had a few poor outings so far, but he's held the opposition to three or fewer earned runs in five of his seven appearances on the campaign.

Garrett (1-3) gave up five earned runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out five to take the loss in a 5-3 defeat to the Cardinals on Tuesday. Garrett took his third loss of the season in his sixth start since being recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville. The 24-year-old left-hander was effective through the first four innings, but then the Cardinals got to him with a four-run fifth inning to knock him out of the game at 84 pitches. Despite carrying an inflated 5.24 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP, Garrett is striking out about one batter per nine and has a chase rate in the 95th percentile. He is expected to make his next start at Washington on Monday.

The good news: Sandy Alcantara doesn’t pitch against the Rockies in this series. The bad news: a Miami sweep is still on the table. The Marlins have outscored the Rockies 16-12 in the first two games of this three-game set in Miami. After a three-game weekend sweep of San Diego, the Rockies find themselves in similar territory as last week, looking to salvage a series with a lone Thursday win.

Garrett allowed two runs (one earned) on nine hits and one walk while striking out seven across 4.2 innings Thursday against the Rockies. He did not factor into the decision. Garrett allowed multiple hits in all but one of his five innings, but he managed to work out of danger on most occasions. He flashed interesting swing-and-miss stuff, backing his seven punchouts with 16 swinging strikes across 94 total pitches. Garrett has recorded at least five strikeouts in three of his four starts in the majors this season, and he has a 4.08 ERA across 17.2 frames.

The 43-23 New York Mets have won four of their last five games as they host the 28-34 Miami Marlins this afternoon at 4:10 PM EST. Miami won five straight before promptly losing four of their last five. Braxton Garrett hopes to right the ship today in his third start of the year. He threw six scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, against the Astros last week, though got roughed up by the Giants in his first outing.

Garrett (1-2) allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with no strikeouts across four innings, taking the loss Saturday versus the Mets. Garrett wasn't bad in this one, but he wasn't great either. He threw 44 of his 75 pitches for strikes, and the big mistake on his ledger was a two-run home run to Francisco Lindor in the third inning. With a 4.85 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and 10:4 K:BB across 13 innings in three starts, Garrett's been a reasonable back-end starter for the Marlins. He's projected for a home start versus the Rockies next week, though he could be moved into a rematch with the Mets if the Marlins add a spot starter since their next day off is June 30.

Garrett (1-1) allowed an unearned run on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings to earn the win Saturday over the Astros. An error allowed Jeremy Pena to reach in the fifth inning, and Jose Altuve knocked him in with an RBI double. That was the only damage on Garrett's line in an otherwise productive outing for his first win in two games this season. Hes now given up five runs (four earned) on 11 hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts across nine innings. Garrett has a chance to continue in the rotation as injuries have piled up for the Marlins -- he's projected for a road start versus the Mets next week.

Garrett (0-1) took the loss Sunday against San Francisco, allowing four runs on five hits, two hit batsmen and a walk while striking out five in 3.1 innings. The big blow against Garrett was Donovan Walton's one-out grand slam in the fourth inning. While the home run accounted for all the runs against the lefty, he was less than stellar in the other innings of his first start of the season. The 24-year-old has been effective at Triple-A Jacksonville, compiling a 3.71 ERA in 23 career starts, but has not been able to put it together at the big-league level with a 5.60 ERA and 45:26 K:BB in 45 innings since 2020.

Garrett is starting Sunday's game against the Giants. He was on the taxi squad and is listed as the confirmed starter. Garrett dealt with a shoulder impingement in early May and gave up two earned runs while striking out eight over 7.2 innings in his two most recent starts at Triple-A. The Marlins will likely give Garrett every chance to prove he belongs in the rotation going forward, especially with Max Meyer (elbow) on the shelf at Triple-A.