Janson

Junk

Junk finished with five strikeouts and only issued one walk. He gave up five hits with run-scoring singles by Munetaka Murakami and Andrew Benintendi accounting for all the damage against him. He didn’t stick around long enough to qualify for a win in his season debut. He’ll square off against the Reds at home on Monday in his next outing.

We’d really like to know what Braxton Garrett looked like outside of his two official spring appearances — when he showed the best velocity of his career and posted a 64% groundball rate while giving up four runs in four innings — and a decent March 3 outing against Team Israel to result in him losing a rotation spot to Junk, who has now finished the spring 0-3 with a 10.13 ERA. Junk did solid enough work last year, and his spring ERA doesn’t really matter much at all. However, he’s probably best utilized going once around a lineup in middle relief.

Junk beat out Braxton Garrett for the final spot and will pitch the fifth game of the season on Tuesday, March 31 against the White Sox. Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Max Meyer and Chris Paddack will pitch in the first four games for the Marlins.

Garrett, 28, was expected to have one of the final spots in the Miami rotation, but he didn’t show enough in the Grapefruit League for that to become official. Janson Junk will instead be the fifth starter for the Marlins, and it’s likely Garrett will be up with the Fish at some point this spring.

Zack Littell was scheduled to take the hill opposite Braxton Garrett, who is vying for the final spot in Miami’s rotation along with Janson Junk. Littell worked three innings last Friday in his spring debut. He’ll presumably get his work in during a bullpen session to stay on schedule for the start of the year.

Snelling’s path to a spot in Miami’s season-opening rotation spot evaporated following the addition of Chris Paddack earlier this spring but he still looked sharp in a handful of Grapefruit League outings. It’ll come down to either Braxton Garrett or Janson Junk for the final spot in the rotation. The 22-year-old southpaw is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and should be fantasy relevant once he arrives in the big leagues given his strikeout upside and pitcher-friendly home ballpark. He’s a name to keep on early-season watch lists, especially in deeper mixed leagues.

It had been thought that Garrett was a shoo-in for a rotation spot after missing last year with an injury, but the left-hander has not looked crisp this spring, allowing three runs on two hits in four innings while walking three and striking out three. Meanwhile, the Marlins have kept Junk stretched out, and he pitched well for the team in 2025, posting a 4.17 ERA in 21 total appearances.

Junk gave up a leadoff homer to George Springer in the first, but he got through the rest of that inning and the second scoreless. The third started with two singles, a run-scoring wild pitch and then a walk, at which point Junk was pulled. Both inherited runners came around to score afterwards. Junk did solid work for the Marlins in 16 starts and five relief appearances last season, finishing with a 4.17 ERA. He’s expected to open this year in middle relief.

The right-hander has shed his walking boot and got back on the mound for the first time on Wednesday since suffering a mild ankle sprain. There’s still plenty of time for him to get himself ready for the start of the regular season.

The 30-year-old views that as “probably the best-case scenario.” There is no need to undergo an MRI, and Junk is “not concerned this is gonna be a mult-week thing.” That’s good news, but with Braxton Garrett healthy and Chris Paddack now in town, Junk should be off your fantasy radar.