Checking in on Braxton Garrett after Cubs took intriguing project away from Marlins

The Chicago Cubs had a strong trade deadline showing this year, with Clay Holmes and Kevin Gausman looking like the clear top starters in the rotation at this point even in spite of occasional clunkers from each of them since arriving in Chicago. It wasn't a perfect haul, however. While it seems the Cubs tried hard to get a deal done for an impactful controllable arm, the best they were able to do is acquire southpaw Braxton Garrett from the Miami Marlins.

It took a two-prospect package headlined by first baseman Jonathon Long to get that deal done. While that price tag pales in comparison to what the Cubs gave up to land Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor from the Mets, it's still nothing to scoff at. Chicago gave up real value for Garrett. That might surprise or even alarm fans, given that he has yet to throw a pitch in the majors for the Cubs with just weeks to go in the regular season.

Fortunately, there's no reason to panic just yet. Garrett was always a longer-term play by Jed Hoyer and his front office. After all, the lefty has spent this year working his way back from elbow surgery he underwent prior to the 2025 season. It wiped out not only the entirety of last year for the lefty, but also has hampered him throughout this year. He made a brief two-outing return to the majors with Miami back in May, but struggled badly and returned to the minors in short order.

Braxton Garrett still clearly has work to do if he wants to help the Cubs

That eventually gave way to a trade on the day of the deadline, and since joining the Cubs the results have been mixed. His debut at Triple-A Iowa saw him issue six walks across just two innings of work, but that frightening lack of command has tightened up in weeks since. While consistently working roughly 75-pitch outings, Garrett has walked just 7.8 percent of his opponents across his last four starts. That's a massive improvement over the 12.1 percent walk rate he was carrying on the season previously.

The improved control is a great sign for Garrett, and when combined with his 27.3 percent strikeout rate over his last four appearances there's clearly the bones of a quality starting pitcher there. That shouldn't be a surprise, given the southpaw had pitched to a solid 3.86 ERA with a 3.66 FIP across the last three seasons prior to going under the knife. His recent peripherals and previous track record offer plenty of reason for optimism about his future in the organization.

With that said, fans shouldn't get ahead of themselves and start clamoring for Garrett to come up to the majors and help fix a beleaguered pitching staff that can't seem to stop losing key pieces. That's because the results have just not passed muster. Over those last four starts with Iowa, Garrett has a 5.79 ERA due in no small part to an absurd five homers allowed in his last 18 2/3 innings. Some of that can be blamed on the league's high offensive environment, but it's still unacceptable for a big league pitcher.

With the Triple-A season in its second-to-last week of the year, Garrett figures to get two more starts before the year is over. In those outings, the Cubs will need to be watching carefully. The lefty can be controlled via arbitration in 2027, and with so many pitchers ticketed for free agency he might be crucial for the rotation next year. That's especially true if the price of a Clay Holmes reunion turns out to be as high as some rumors suggest.

If Garrett can keep the ball in the park over these last two starts with the Iowa Cubs and start getting results that better match his peripherals, that would give the front office some reason for confidence in him headed into Spring Training next year. If the long ball issues continue, however, Garrett might wind up non-tendered this offseason without so much as throwing a pitch in the majors for the Cubs. If so, then these next two starts will make or break Hoyer's decision to trade for Garrett at all.

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