How Reed Garrett went from waiver claim to high-leverage reliever for Mets

Fans at Dodger Stadium on April 20 probably looked at the guy coming out of the Mets‘ bullpen for a save opportunity in the ninth inning of a two-run game and collectively wondered, “Who?”

Reed Garrett almost had to wonder what he was doing there one night prior. The 31-year-old journeyman right-hander was a little overwhelmed while on the mound of one of baseball’s most historic ballparks. But April 20, when he came out after Edwin Diaz, one of the best closers in baseball, and struck out the side to record his first-ever big-league save, Garrett looked like he belonged.

This season, Garrett is proving to the Mets that he belongs in the big leagues, and proving it to himself as well.

“I think I was giving the hitters way too much credit [in the past], and I wasn’t as confident in myself in my ability as I should have been,” Garrett recently told the Daily News. “I think that was the biggest thing, kind of pushing myself to realize that I have made really quality pitches and to trust it, go out there and just not be afraid to go right after guys.”

Garrett leads the league in wins with five (5-1) and has allowed only a single earned run this season in 15 2/3 innings (nine games). Within less than a year, Garrett has gone from waiver wire castoff to a high-leverage reliever.

How did he get here?

It sounds so simple to hear him say it: Get ahead in the count. Good hitters will hit good pitches if a guy like Garrett nibbles around the zone, which they did during his first big league stint in 2019 as a Rule 5 draft pick with the Detroit Tigers. He walked a lot of hitters — 13 in 15 1/3 innings — and gave up runs (14 earned).

His confidence took a hit and so did his morale, especially during his second season in Japan with the Saitama Seibu Lions of the Pacific League.

“I really wasn’t having that much fun,” he said. “I was alone. My wife and kids were back in America and I just wasn’t necessarily pumped to go to the field every day. I’ve never gotten to that point before. It was definitely I time where I had to do some reflection and think, ‘What can I do with myself every day to be better?’”

Garrett reached out to Dr. Josiah Igono, PhD, a performance specialist and psychologist he had crossed paths with in Texas. The two began working together on the mental aspect of pitching and he started writing out his process daily.

It starts with his pregame preparation, what he hopes to accomplish while playing catch and what he hopes to do on the mound.

The results took time. He wasn’t exactly a success with the Mets last summer when he was claimed off waivers, going 1-0 with a 5.82 ERA in nine games. But Buck Showalter had taken a liking to him, seeing that his military training translated to a diligent approach to preparation. The former manager lobbied for him to stay with the big league team last summer when the team needed arms after the trade deadline.

But Showalter was gone when the Mets made the decision to tender a contract to Garrett for the 2024 season. President of baseball operations David Stearns heard good things about him from the development staff and he still had a minor league option year, making it a low-risk move to keep him around.

Garrett has improved his offerings, throwing a hard four-seam fastball, but mostly throws a slider and a sweeper. He also uses a splitter and a sinker, especially when facing right-handed hitters. But he now has a better idea of how to use all of his pitches and when.

Especially when he gets ahead in the count.

“I think as this stretch has gone on, he’s gained confidence in different ways to get ahead,” Stearns said. “It’s not always pumping in 0-0 fastballs, which at the big-league level, guys will figure out. He’s got enough variety in what he can do, where he can attack the strike zone in different ways, get ahead and put himself in a really good spot.”

Garrett needed to trust his stuff and throw it with conviction to start throwing strikes. He’s throwing a lot of them now, as is evidenced by his 16.1 strikeouts per nine innings rate. The Mets have created a unique role for Garrett that has him throwing multiple innings, sometimes even multiple high-leverage innings. They’re content to let him pitch in that role for a while longer seeing at how he has excelled so far.

The journey is going well for the journeyman now that he’s found the confidence to pitch against the best hitters in the game and now that he knows how to get himself into better counts. The Mets hope this is just the beginning.

“I know the work that I’ve put in, and I know what I’ve been able to accomplish in my process,” Garrett said. So at some point, the results will come.”