After giving up runs in two of his first three appearances after being activated from the IL, Reed Garrett notched his fourth straight scoreless appearance Friday night. With Dedniel Nunez on the IL, Adam Ottavino apparently busted to low-leverage appearances only and Ryne Stanek not trusted to pitch at all, it would be a huge boost to the Mets’ pen if Garrett could return to the pitcher he was earlier in the season, when it seemed like he excelled in every role.
The Mets acquired Garrett in the middle of last year, when they claimed him off waivers from the Orioles. He was nothing special in 2023, done in by allowing 3 HR in 17 IP. But if nothing else, he was at least interesting, with a deep repertoire for a reliever, including a fastball with an average velocity of 96.3 mph. And while the ERA was ugly, Garrett had a solid 1.235 WHIP for the Mets in ’23.
Garrett had a solid Spring Training in 2024 but found himself in the minors, a victim of having an option while other relievers vying for a spot did not. Yet he made just one appearance for Syracuse before finding himself promoted. Garrett quickly established himself as someone who could be used both for multiple innings or as a guy to be used in either the seventh or eighth innings. In all, he pitched 17 times in the first six weeks since arriving and he put up a 0.72 ERA and a 1.048 WHIP in that span.
A lot of the talk early on with Garrett was about his splitter. Yet it wasn’t a new pitch for him, as he threw it 14.6% of the time with the Mets in 2023. But Garrett started throwing the splitter nearly twice as often as he did before. The new pitch in his repertoire was his cutter, which he’s thrown nearly a quarter of the time this season. He features a five-pitch arsenal, with the splitter, cutter and sweeper all being above-average pitches.
But after a tremendous start to 2024, Garrett hit a wall. Some felt he was overused while others felt the league merely adjusted to the new pitch mix and offering. Whatever the reason, Garrett allowed 11 R in 7.2 IP and a 2.250 WHIP over an eight-game span.
It seemed like Garrett had overcome his bad streak, as he posted a 2.08 ERA and a 0.900 WHIP over 10 IP in nine appearances, with the Mets going 8-1 in those games he pitched. But then came a brutal game against the Nationals after which Garrett was placed on the IL with elbow inflammation. An MRI showed no ligament damage yet it took just over a month before he returned to action in the majors.
While his first game back was clean, Garrett gave up runs in his next two outings and picked up the loss in both of them, calling into question whether he could be an asset for the club the rest of the way. In his 8/15 appearance, Garrett gave up three hits and a walk, while on 8/18 he was done in by three walks.
Even when he was outstanding in his opening stretch of the year, walks were a problem for Garrett, as he issued 10 BB in 21 IP. But he compensated by being stingy with hits, which resulted in that 1.048 WHIP. Yet Garrett allowed seven baserunners in two innings in those back-to-back outings that called into question his usefulness going forward.
However, in his last four appearances, Garrett has allowed just a walk and two singles and one of those hits didn’t make it out of the infield. It may not mean anything at all but in these four games – a grand total of 37 pitches – Garrett has been relying more on his sinker and 4-seamer, throwing them a combined 45.9% of the time.
It’s counter-intuitive, as batters have the two-highest batting averages against those pitches among Garrett’s five offerings. But when you’re having trouble throwing strikes, those two pitches should be the easiest ones to throw in the strike zone. And if batters gear up for the fastball, that should make those off-speed pitches even more effective.
It’s just another example of the on-going, cat-and-mouse games between pitchers and hitters. It certainly helps that Garrett has five pitches at his disposal.
While we would prefer to see a greater sample of success for Garrett – especially before anointing him “fixed” – beggars can’t be choosers at this point of the season. He’s pitched in three of the past four days, so it’s unlikely that Garrett will be on the mound Saturday. But after coming into the game in either the sixth or seventh innings in each of his seven appearances since returning from the IL, don’t be surprised if Garrett starts adding eighth-inning appearances to his ledger moving forward. And it will be easier to do that if continues to limit his baserunners.