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Troy native Braxton Garrett is expected to earn the start on the mound tonight as his Miami Marlins face off against the Atlanta Braves.

Garrett, the son of longtime Charles Henderson coach Steve Garrett, was born in Troy before his family moved from the area when he was six years old. Steve Garrett played baseball at Troy State and went on to start his coaching career at Goshen in 1992 before becoming head coach at Charles Henderson in 1995. Steve Garrett’s Trojans won a number of Area Championships and captured the school’s first State Championship in 2004. He went on to serve as head coach at Northview in Dothan, Foley and Florence High Schools.

Braxton Garrett went on to become one of the top pitchers in the country during his high school career. He was named Mr. Baseball in the State of Alabama and went on to lead the 18U National Team to the World Cup gold medal in 2015.

Garrett was drafted seventh overall in the 2016 MLB Draft. After starting out with the Greensboro Grasshoppers in the Class A South Atlantic League in 2017, he was forced to miss the 2018 season after recovering from Tommy John surgery. In 2019, Garrett returned to the mound with the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League before being called up to the Marlins major league roster in 2020.

Garrett went 1-1 as a starter in 2020 with eight strikeouts and a 5.87 ERA. In 2021, Garrett went 1-2 on the mound with 32 strikeouts and a 5.03 ERA. In 2022, Garrett went 3-7 as a starter with a career-high 90 strikeouts and a career-best 3.58 ERA.

So far this season, Garrett has started four games with five appearances and 22 innings pitched. He’s 1-0 this season and has struck out 19 batters, while boasting a 2.45 ERA. Garrett’s last appearance on the mound came in a 5-4 Marlins win over the Braves on April 27, where he pitched three innings and gave up just one hit and no runs with three strikeouts. His first win of the season came in a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians on April 22. Garrett struck out three batters and gave up just five hits and one earned run in 5 and 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out a season-high seven batters on April 9 in a win over the New York Mets.

The Marlins are currently 16-14 on the season and sit in the third place of the NL East. The Braves are 20-10 and in first place of the division. The Braves defeated the Marlins 6-0 on May 2. The Braves and Marlins play at 5:40 p.m. tonight and the game will air on Bally Sports South.