Mets Monday Morning GM: Reed Garrett is pitching his way off the roster

There aren’t any shortages of overachieving New York Mets players on the roster this season. Jose Iglesias is the one who grabs the headlines because of his musical career and maintenance of a batting average well over the .300 mark. His constant hustle on routine groundballs will have him etched in stone as a fan-favorite forever.

The same might not be true of Reed Garrett whose strong early impression with the Mets this season seems to have evaporated. A second loss since returning from the IL on Sunday is another negative mark for a pitcher who at one point this season was carrying the bullpen on his back.

Garrett didn’t make the team out of camp and understandably so. He didn’t have a track record to even suggest sticking on the 40-man roster let alone joining the MLB club. When he did arrive, Garrett put together a spectacular first month. He had a 0.57 ERA heading into May before the rails came off. He’s looking to be that same overmatched pitcher we always expected him to be.

Reed Garrett is pitching his way out of the plans for next season, maybe even next week

Garrett was an early mainstay in the bullpen and even a candidate to take the closer job away from Edwin Diaz. Anyone who had that opportunity during the brief period when Diaz was out of the role failed. Nevertheless, Garrett remained in high-leverage situations often helping to bridge multiple innings between the starter and the Mets closer.

A miserable May that included a 6.08 ERA was the first hint of trouble. Then came a subdued June with a 3.60 ERA performance. It was certainly good enough to stay with the club. With relievers, it’s about the big picture. One dreadful game is all it takes to spoil a reliever’s numbers for the entire year.

Unfortunately for Garrett, the best of his three games since the IL return came in a 4-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners when he struck out the side. Blowing the save and taking the loss against the Oakland Athletics and then giving up free passes to the Miami Marlins that resulted in his fifth loss of the year only helped fuel the exhaustion and worn-out feeling of his presence on the team.

No one should be rushing to DFA Garrett, what with minor league options and all. However, with others pitching better, he is much more of a realistic demotion candidate than he might’ve been previously when the Mets were trusting him a whole lot more.

For Garrett, his future with the Mets is more in jeopardy. He won’t have options next season which means he’ll either have to make the team out of spring training or become a March roster casualty. The Mets could always non-tender or trade him prior. That’s a concern for a future month.

Right now it’s about our lack of trust in Garrett to get the job done. Maybe no longer a guy we’ll see for more than an inning at a time, getting three unblemished outs is difficult enough.

Perhaps he was rushed back a little prematurely from the IL. In either case, it’ll be interesting to see how long he does last with the Mets and if a second-straight poor performance was enough for him to permanently join Adam Ottavino in the doghouse or maybe even receive his first demotion since the preseason.