Former Florence High School standout Braxton Garrett probably won’t be ready to take his spot in Miami’s rotation when the Marlins open their 2024 season with a four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates starting on March 28.

“I don’t think you’re going to see him,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said on Tuesday. “Right now, Opening Day would be tough. It’d be really challenging for him to be on the roster Opening Day with no live (batting practice) yet. He’s going to have three or four more of those at least, and then getting him ramped up to be on a Major League roster is going to be challenging at this point. …

“I’m not going to push somebody who has a little bit of a shoulder thing going on. That was a few weeks ago. He feels great now. I think it’s dangerous when you’re trying to push a guy to make an Opening Day roster when he’s coming off a little bit of a nagging whatever it was.”

Soreness in his pitching shoulder got Garrett behind schedule at spring training in his preparation to build on his breakout 2023 season.

The left-hander joined the Marlins rotation in June 2022 for 17 straight starts after making nine big-league starts in the previous two seasons. But Garrett still opened the 2023 campaign in the Miami bullpen. He made one relief appearance, then finished the season with 30 straight starts.

In 2023, Garrett posted a 9-7 record with a 3.66 earned-run average, then made his first postseason start. In 159.2 regular-season innings, Garrett stuck out 156 and yielded 154 hits and 29 walks.

“Bullpens have been good,” Garrett said on Tuesday. “I’m starting to feel normal again. Shoulder’s bouncing back really well, so in a much better spot than when I showed up. I just couldn’t make it to the mound without feeling some stuff. But a couple of weeks in, we started to feel good, and we’ve made some really good progress. …

“I think we’re just focusing on making sure I’m feeling good and, again, just stacking good days. Like I said, I’m starting to feel normal. But we just don’t want to rush and push and push.”

Garrett started his prep career at Foley before moving to Florence when his father, Steve Garrett, left his post as the Lions’ baseball coach to take the same position with the Falcons.

Garrett went 7-1 with an 0.75 ERA, struck out 141, walked 11 and yielded 17 hits in 66.6 innings in 2015, when he won the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Mr. Baseball honor.

Garrett had a 6-2 record with an 0.54 earned-run average, 131 strikeouts and 15 walks in 65.3 innings in 2016, when he was the Gatorade Alabama Baseball Player of the Year.

The Marlins chose Garrett with the seventh selection in the 2016 draft. After four minor-league starts, Garrett missed the 2018 season after having Tommy John surgery.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.