Reid Garrett has never been treated as a full closer before.
With Edwin Diaz sidelined with a shoulder injury and struggling before that, the Mets are taking a committee approach to selecting a closer.
The Mets used Garrett to pitch the ninth inning of a 10-9 win over the Diamondbacks on Friday night at Citi Field.
With a five-run lead, it wasn’t a save-able situation, but the Mets treated Garrett as a closer when he took the mound.
As Garrett took the stage, new lights flicked on around Citi Field and Kid Rock’s “Bawit Daba” blared over the speakers, just as it did during Diaz’s introduction.
“It was cool, it was awesome,” Garrett told The Post before Saturday’s 10-5 loss to Arizona. “It doesn’t matter when my name is called to pitch, if it’s the fifth time, sixth time, ninth time, but it was definitely cool. It was awesome. It was a cool experience.”
Garrett, who did not pitch in Saturday’s loss, has never been treated as a closer in that capacity in his career, and certainly never been treated this lightly.
In recent years, unique closer entrances have become commonplace in MLB.
Garrett’s song selection was also innovative.
“I just wanted something different and I thought that song was cool and interesting for people,” Garrett says. “It’s a song that I enjoy.”
Garrett appeared out of nowhere as a 31-year-old journeyman who wasn’t even on the major league roster coming out of spring training, and has been incredibly dominant since the start of the year.
He spent a lot of time in the minor leagues and even played two years in Japan to support himself financially.
However, in recent matches, her Cinderella-like performance has begun to fade little by little.
He entered Friday’s game with a 10-5 lead but quickly gave up two home runs that cut the lead to 10-9, but he still managed to hold on to the win.
Three games earlier, on May 24, Garrett collapsed in the eighth inning of the Mets’ 8-7 loss to the Giants.
Garrett took the mound with a 6-2 lead and then gave up five runs.
“They were really aggressive,” Garrett said of Friday’s game. “In that situation, I was just trying to get a lead. They took two good swings on two pretty good pitches and ended up striking me out. That’s how it went, but in the end we won and that’s all that matters.”
