1 NY Mets player the team seems most determined to turn into this year’s Reed Garrett

Whatever your feelings for Reed Garrett may be, there’s no denying how much he blew away expectations last season. Garrett was a beast early on for the New York Mets. He started to get hit hard in May and for the rest of the season was exactly what most middle relievers in the game are: extremely on some days and way off on others.

Garrett was a journeyman reliever whose placement on the Mets 40-man roster to begin the 2024 season seemed suspect. Was there no one better they could have added? Remaining minor league options made it an understandable decision to keep him around. Doubters were proven wrong. Even with his bad days included, he was a useful player to have.

Repeating the same success with Garrett is something the Mets would love to replicate. If there’s one player fitting the bill most, it’s a player who happened to join the Mets last season in a somewhat similar situation.

Can the Mets make Tyler Zuber into an exceptional MLB reliever even for a short while?

Tyler Zuber was a trade deadline addition by the Mets who never actually got to wear a big league uniform. Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays for minor leaguer Paul Gervase, the Mets seemed like they wanted a guy they could rotate between the majors and minors for the rest of the season. Struggles in Triple-A had them going with other choices.

In his limited sample of 52.2 MLB innings, Zuber has a 5.13 ERA. Time served with the Rays organization might’ve taught him a few things. He had a 2.49 ERA in Triple-A for them prior to joining the Mets where it holiday dieted its way up to 12.38.

Zuber’s pitch arsenal includes a sweeper which seems like a necessity to be a member of the Mets pitching staff. Turning that pitch into a big league quality one and maybe adding some more weapons can have Zuber evolving into a new Garrett.

Garrett held batters to a .171 batting average with his sweeper last year. Sean Manaea, who notably added one the year prior with the San Francisco Giants, got fantastic results, too. Hitters batted .193 against the pitch in 2024.

This singular pitch isn’t all that could make or break Zuber’s professional career. The similarities to Garrett, however, are tough to deny. He’s a roster addition from the year prior with no major league impact. The team has kept him this long. They’ll at least give him a closer look in the spring and go from there.