Amir Garrett agreed to sign with the Cincinnati Reds in 2011 on the condition that he be allowed to pursue his collegiate basketball career.
Another condition was the $1-million signing bonus the Reds agreed to plunk down for the 22nd-round pick. For a Reds’ organization that makes too many bad decisions, the gamble for Garrett looks like it could pay off big time.
The 24-year-old left-hander started slow in the minors once he hung up his hardwood high-tops. He had a 5.15 ERA in 57.2 innings of low-level minor league baseball in 2013. He spent the entirety of the following season in Low-A ball and managed a 3.64 ERA in 27 starts.
Last year, however, marked the emergence of Garrett. He spent the entire year in High-A ball with a 2.44 ERA in 140.1 innings.
This year, Garrett has continued to build upon his success. He posted a 1.75 ERA in 77 innings at Double-A before his promotion to Triple-A.
Garrett has a .0964 WHIP so far this season in 18.1 innings at Triple-A. His two-inning, scoreless outing yesterday in the All-Star Futures Game is adding more luster to his suddenly shooting star.
The Reds probably won’t let Garrett throw much more than 170 total innings this year. With Garrett pushing 100 innings already, he probably has 10 to 12 starts left in 2016.
The Reds may opt to delay the major league arrival of Garrett this year for service time reasons. But given the sorry state of the Reds as one of the worst franchises in baseball, the Reds probably don’t have too much left to lose now or for the future by promoting Garrett to the Reds’ rotation now.
The Reds face a similar innings limit with Cody Reed, who threw a total of 145.2 innings last year. Reed has just 89 innings this year under his belt so could possibly start another 15 games.
Seeing Reed and Garrett together in the Reds’ rotation for awhile in 2016 would make things a lot more interesting for the Reds for the rest of this wasted season.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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