Mets bullpen takeaways: Reed Garrett sets the tone as relievers drive early success

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NEW YORK — For once on Tuesday, the New York Mets didn’t rely solely on their bullpen.

Thanks to a pair of big innings, New York’s 10-5 victory over the Miami Marlins was just the third time in 11 games that the final margin was larger than two runs. Nevertheless, the pen did its job, combining to throw 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball behind Clay Holmes. The relievers were efficient enough that the Mets were able to stay away from Edwin Díaz and Ryne Stanek, giving them a fresh set of arms for Wednesday’s series finale, when they’ll try for a perfect 6-0 homestand.

The bullpen has been the biggest reason for New York’s 8-3 start to the season. Through 11 games, it’s allowed six earned runs in 42 2/3 innings, good for an ERA of 1.27. (That’s an entire relief corps pitching a shade better than Díaz did in 2022.) How has the pen done it, and how sustainable is this performance?

Reed Garrett is the fireman

In the middle innings of a tight game, with runners on base, there’s little doubt who Carlos Mendoza prefers: Reed Garrett.

Garrett has inherited six runners this season and stranded them all; only teammate Max Kranick has matched that in 2025. All of Garrett’s appearances this season have come in above-average leverage.

Why do the Mets like Garrett so much in those spots?

In general, what you want most with runners on base is a strikeout or a popup, neither of which allows runners to move up. In 2024, Garrett struck out more than a third of opposing hitters — a top 15 mark in the sport last season. And he generated nine more popups on the infield.

And beyond that, you want a pitcher who can also keep the ball on the ground for a potential double play. Garrett’s ground-ball rate was better than 44 percent last season, and in total, more than 60 percent of plate appearances against him ended in a strikeout, popup or groundball. He’s on an even better pace this year, with 14 of the 18 hitters he’s faced striking out, popping up or hitting a grounder.

Finally, thanks to the effectiveness of his splitter, Garrett is mostly platoon-neutral. Last season, righties went 24-for-106 off him with three home runs and four doubles; lefties went 26-for-106 off him with three home runs and five doubles.

That splitter has seldom looked better than in Friday’s home opener against Toronto. Garrett took over for Tylor Megill with two men on and cleanup hitter Andrés Giménez at the plate. Look at the wave he induced from Giménez.

And he polished off the inning with an equally weak swing from right-hander Alejandro Kirk to strand the runners.

What’s the key to Garrett’s splitter?

“It’s the arm speed carrying the hand speed through the delivery,” Garrett said. “When it’s not as sharp, I’m not truly ripping it. I’ve been putting in a lot of work the last couple days in just trusting the hand speed and to throw it like a fastball.”

Depth can make bullpen performance sustainable

Entering Tuesday’s 11th game of the season, all eight of New York’s relievers had made high-leverage appearances. The Mets have gotten big innings from the usual suspects in Díaz, Stanek, A.J. Minter and Garrett. But Huascar Brazobán and Kranick have been effective as well in multi-inning stints, and that’s especially valuable this time of year when starters are on stricter pitch counts.

“It’s going to help us get through 162,” said Minter. “That’s what people don’t realize. You can have a good solid three guys at the back end of the bullpen, but you have to have depth. Whenever we can just roll with the hot hand that day, that’s going to be very beneficial for us.”

“You’re not just beating four guys to death,” Stanek said. “We have eight guys that are all capable of getting outs in leverage. That matters. That’s how you get really good bullpens over the course of a season, is guys comfortable in a variety of roles.”

Garrett, Brazobán and Minter lead the team with five appearances each. They’re all outside the top 35 in the league in appearances this season.

Yes, the bullpen performance will regress. But subpar teams spend a lot of time talking about not syncing up their good pitching nights with their good hitting nights, and vice versa. Good teams win when one of those facets isn’t clicking, and New York’s bullpen has banked wins at a time when, before Tuesday, the offense had not done a whole lot.

“It’s not going to go this smoothly the whole year,” Minter said. “The bullpen and pitching staff are doing a very good job when the hitters aren’t scoring as many runs as they’d like. That’s what good teams do.”

The starters will still need to do their part

It’s worth noting: The Mets’ bullpen was outstanding last April, too — and it became the millstone around the club’s neck during its horrendous May. Bullpen performance can flip quickly, and it usually does when the unit as a whole is fatigued.

The multi-inning outings by Brazobán, Kranick and José Buttó have helped limit the workloads for others in the pen. But eventually, New York’s starters are going to need to pitch beyond the fifth inning. Holmes’ start Tuesday, in which he went a season-best 5 1/3 frames, was a positive step.

Still, the Mets have just one quality start in 11 tries this season, from David Peterson in Miami, and are averaging barely five innings per start.

(Top photo of Reed Garrett: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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