Thursday, September 18

Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 16 seasons full time on the beat.

LOS ANGELES -- Reed Garrett was not drafted out of high school. He instead attended the Virginia Military Institute, a school without much history of producing Major League Baseball players.

Nonetheless, Garrett grinded well enough for the Rangers to select him in the 16th round of the 2014 Draft. During his first Minor League Spring Training, he shared a locker with a similarly unheralded teammate.

“I was like, ‘Damn, dude, I might not even make it out of camp,’” Garrett recalled.

Things did not grow easier from there. After five years without a sniff of the big leagues, Garrett became a Rule 5 Draft pick of the Tigers, who subsequently returned him to the Rangers, who banished him back to the Minors before eventually releasing him. Garrett went from there to Japan to spend two years with the Seibu Lions in the middle of a pandemic, which he called “a big growing part of my life.” During that time, Garrett rarely saw his family. He had little reason to think his career might change in any meaningful way.

Even after returning to the United States in 2022, Garrett bounced from the Nationals to the Orioles and finally to the Mets, where Jeremy Hefner and the Mets’ pitching team saw potential in him. Early last season, he experienced his first breakout.

Now, at age 32, Garrett has blossomed. Even after taking a difficult loss Thursday in Los Angeles, the right-hander carries a 0.99 ERA. He is a bona fide National League All-Star candidate who has come to appreciate his winding journey.

“Life is about that, right?” Garrett said. “Life is about persevering through adversity and getting through tough times. I don’t think my entire career has been an easy path.”

Garrett’s ability to remake himself in his 30s has been one of the quintessential stories of a Mets pitching program that’s flourished under Hefner the past two seasons.

After years of switching leagues every summer and hunting for jobs each winter, Garrett spent this offseason enjoying real job security for the first time. In April, he moved back into the same Long Island neighborhood where he spent the 2024 season. His wife returned to the friends she had made. His children reunited with those of his teammates.

“They feel comfortable,” Garrett said. “I feel comfortable. It’s been great.”

As far back as Spring Training, Garrett pondered the idea of making the All-Star team -- less as a personal goal than a marker of his success. He believed in the repertoire changes he had made over the previous year, relying more on his splitter and sweeper to challenge hitters in the strike zone. Recovering from a midseason slump and pitching in October, Garrett said, served to fuel his trust in himself.

“I believed that I could do it and just had that self-confidence of like, ‘Hey, I know I’m capable of being that person,’” Garrett said.

This year, Garrett has “taken it to another level,” as manager Carlos Mendoza put it, projecting even more self-assurance on the mound. It has allowed Garrett to become one of baseball’s best at pitching out of jams, which is a helpful skill for someone who walks more than a batter every other inning.

For Garrett, success has bred security, which has in turn bred additional success. If it results in an All-Star appearance -- a rare honor for a non-closing reliever -- Garrett would welcome it as recognition of everything he has endured in his career.

“Obviously, we all want to come up and be like, ‘Hey, I’m Rookie of the Year,’ and, ‘Hey, I’ve been in the big leagues. I’ve never used an option,’ -- stuff like that,” Garrett said. “But it’s cool to have to work for it.”

Who is the Mets’ all-time home run leader at Coors Field? 

A) Pete Alonso

B) Carlos Beltrán

C) Todd Hundley

D) David Wright

It remains to be seen how much Francisco Lindor’s broken pinky toe will affect his quest to appear in the All-Star Game in Atlanta. Despite being one of the sport’s best all-around players, he somehow has never made the NL All-Star team.

A four-time All-Star in the American League, Lindor struggled early in each of his first four seasons in Flushing, missing out on those All-Star Games as a result. Although Lindor seemed to do enough last June to earn the nod, he wound up being a notable snub behind Trea Turner, CJ Abrams and Elly De La Cruz.

• VOTE NOW: 2025 PRO SPIRIT MLB All-Star Ballot. Watch the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard July 15 on FOX

This year, Lindor leads NL shortstops in fWAR, but he sat out Thursday’s game due to the broken toe and is day to day. While Lindor is confident he won’t miss much additional time, it remains to be seen whether the injury will affect his production.

“I think it’s going to be a nagging thing,” Lindor said. “I think it takes six weeks for a bone to be fully healed. It’s part of relying on your body.”

• Had Brett Baty not committed a “terrible, terrible play” in the eighth inning Thursday, Garrett might have escaped without giving up the lead. As it was, the Mets left with a series split in L.A. (They achieved that much in large part by neutralizing Shohei Ohtani.)

• The Mets called up Ronny Mauricio this week to replace injured teammate Mark Vientos. Here’s more on Mauricio and what he brings to the team coming off multiple knee surgeries.

• Pitcher Sean Manaea is ready to begin a Minor League rehab assignment Friday with High-A Brooklyn. He is on track to return late this month.

• Joe Trezza wrote up No. 4 prospect Jonah Tong’s brilliant start to the season.

D) Wright

The captain enjoyed his time in Denver, launching 10 homers in 39 career games at Coors Field. He had a slash line of .372/.444/.642 at the ballpark. 

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