Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
No. 1 prospect has arm surgery
MIAMI — Braxton Garrett, the Miami Marlins’ top prospect, will miss the rest of 2017 and potentially all of 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery Tuesday.
Garrett, a 19-year-old lefthander and the club’s top pick in the 2016 draft, was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow earlier this month and visited with Dr. James Andrews this week for a second opinion.
The parties decided Andrews, famous for his Tommy John clients, would perform the reconstructive surgery on the UCL.
“Unfortunately it’s part of the game, but we’ll get it addressed now,” said Michael Hill, the Marlins’ president of baseball operations.
The magnitude of the injury aside, this is also a tough break for Garrett and the Marlins’ shallow farm system from a timing perspective. Hill said it’s too early to know when Garrett will return, but Tommy John surgery typically keeps pitchers out for more than 12 months.
One source with knowledge of Garrett’s situation indicated a best-case scenario would be him pitching in the instructional league in the fall of 2018.
In the spring of 2019, when Garrett likely next takes the mound in an actual game, he will be almost three years removed from signing — for a $4.145 million bonus — with just four professional appearances on his resume.
Garrett pitched for Low-A Greensboro this year, posting a 2.93 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in four starts. He had one bad game, his last one, when he allowed four runs in 1 2⁄3 innings before being shelved with elbow discomfort.
The Marlins handled Garrett carefully, keeping him out of games last summer and waiting to start his 2017 season until May.
Garrett was the second Marlins minor leaguer to have Tommy John this week. On Monday, Andrews performed the surgery on right-hander Jordan Holloway, the Marlins’ No. 14 prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
Kolek close to pitching
In other news regarding Miami’s first-round high school pitchers/Tommy John patients, right-hander
Tyler Kolek has been throwing in extended spring training and is expected to pitch this month for the first time since April 2016 surgery.
Hill came away impressed with the 6-foot-5, 260-pound righty after a recent trip to Jupiter.
Hill said the Marlins haven’t used radar guns on Kolek, the No. 2 overall pick in 2014, but his velocity is “firm” and his delivery is smoothed out.
“Delivery looks good, and it’s coming out hot. My eye radar says it looks good. That’s all I really care about,” Hill said. “My eye radar, it was firm. And the bats he was blowing up, it was firm.”
Rogers close to signing
The Marlins are close to officially signing lefty Trevor Rogers, the organization’s first-round choice (13th overall) in last week’s draft, and a handful of other picks from the top 10 rounds, Hill said.
A tweet from Rogers Tuesday indicated the same.
“I’ll miss you Carlsbad,” Rogers wrote, referencing his hometown in New Mexico. “But Florida is calling my name and it’s time to get to work.”
The Marlins will have a minicamp — a freshman orientation of sorts — for their new draftees starting Wednesday in Jupiter.
Odds & ends
As Martin Prado (right hamstring strain) and Adeiny Hechavarria (left oblique strain) continue their rehab assignments with High-A Jupiter, manager Don Mattingly said having them back during the weekend series against the Cubs would be “aggressive.”
Marlins minor league catcher Roy Morales was suspended 80 games without pay after testing positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing drug. Morales, 21, was slashing .288/.370/.356 in 30 games for Jupiter. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the club’s No. 18 prospect.