PITTSBURGH – Pitching in a tie game with the bases loaded and one out, Amir Garrett hopped up and down in front of the mound when he walked in the go-ahead run after he had Atlanta Braves catcher Stephen Vogt in a 0-2 count.
For a pitcher who dreamed of becoming the Cincinnati Reds’ closer and proving himself as one of the premier left-handed relievers in the sport, it was another chapter in a nightmare season. Nothing went right. He posted a 6.04 ERA across a team-high 63 relief appearances.
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After walking two of the three batters he faced in his outing against the Braves on Aug. 10, he no longer was called upon in high-leverage situations, and he made only one relief appearance over the next two weeks.
“This is not something that I want to feel again because I was at the top of my game the last two years and I just fell to the bottom,” Garrett said. “That’s OK. I think, for me, I need to experience that.”
Garrett, who always exudes confidence, admits there were moments where he lost belief in himself. He had trouble locating his fastball for the first month of the season. His walk rate spiked up and he gave up nine homers, his highest total since he was a starting pitcher in his rookie season.
He converted seven of his 11 save opportunities, but he lost his grip in a co-closer role by the end of April. Amid his struggles at the beginning of the year, he was suspended for five games when Javier Báez and the Chicago Cubs bench took exception to the way he shouted at Anthony Rizzo after a strikeout.
“Confidence is key,” he said. “That’s something I will preach because you’ve seen a lot of hitters step in that box and you can ask anybody when they face me, they’re like, ‘man, Amir is up here. This dude is coming at you with his all.’ I don’t feel like hitters feared me this year. They did not fear me. I’m going to reinvent myself and make sure they’ll fear me again.”
The Reds know Garrett’s potential. An injury cost him a chance at being picked for the All-Star team in 2019. When he’s at his best, he can dominate any left-handed hitter. He was one of the rare pitchers to induce a whiff on a pitch out of the strike zone against Juan Soto, striking him out to end a streak where Soto reached base in 12 consecutive plate appearances.
Garrett is expected to command a $2.2 million salary through arbitration this winter, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ projections. He’s a candidate to be released this offseason if the Reds want to lower payroll, but they don’t want to give up on him, especially with a thin bullpen.
“This feeling that I had this year and this feeling that I’m going to have all offseason, not having a good year, that’s going to stick with me and that’s going to light a fire under my (butt),” Garrett said. “I have to come in ready for next year and I have to do the best I can for my team, so I’ll be ready.”
Left-handed batters were 1-for-23 with five walks and 12 strikeouts against Garrett in 2020, posting a minuscule .258 OPS (on-base plus slugging). Lefties hit .226 against him in 84 at-bats this year with a .701 OPS.
The three-batter minimum rule forces Garrett to face a heavy mix of right-handed hitters, but dominating lefties must be a key to his success with his upper-90s fastball and wipeout slider.
After the final game of the season, Garrett apologized for his performance on his Instagram. His “photo” was a black background with words in white, “I needed that L, I was getting too comfortable.”
“I’m just going to use this as motivation,” Garrett said. “I don’t ever want to be out there, and fans not be happy with me. I want to be the dominant lefty that I’ve always been. I just have to erase this year, go into the offseason and work hard. It’s crazy because nothing is promised to you in this game. I worked my (butt) off all year and I just didn’t get the results I wanted.”
Garrett doesn’t think the expectations he had for himself played a factor in his rough season. He just couldn’t find any consistency. Whenever he took a couple of steps forward, a bad stretch of outings popped up.
"I’m just going to fall in love with baseball all over again," Garrett said. "I didn’t have a lot of fun this year. I just wasn’t having fun in general.
“I tried to keep a positive attitude. I was coming here for my teammates positive, but for myself, I was down on myself a lot. That’s out of my nature. I’m usually, no matter what, confident as ever. For some reason this year, it didn’t go my way and that’s OK. I’m just going to work hard and come back better than ever next year.
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