Cincinnati Reds Amir Garrett proves he deserves another starting chance

The left-hander has earned a chance to start in the injured Cincinnati Reds rotation.

The Cincinnati Reds decided to go with Cody Reed as the number five starter to start the season.  Reed had a tough spring. He also has shown that he can relieve, but not start on the MLB level.

Amir Garrett, though, has shown bursts of being ready to start at the MLB level.  He also has been a starter his entire time in the minors. Garrett is a starting pitcher.

This year Garrett has pitched three games in relief.  On Opening Day Garrett pitched one inning, walking one.  He struck out two and did not allow a hit.

Garrett also pitched in the first game of the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He pitched 1 ⅔ innings, allowing one hit. He struck out two more and has yet to allow a run this season after a third appearance.

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Last year fourteen of Garrett’s sixteen appearances came as starts.  He made the pair of appearances in the pen at the end of the season. He even picked up a hold.

Garrett only made two relief appearances his entire minor league career.  The last one came in the second half of 2016 when he moved from Double-A to Triple-A.  Garrett is a starter through and through.

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The Cincinnati Reds trained Amir Garrett as a starter and should give him another chance.

Garrett made 103 career minor league starts in four and a half seasons.  Excluding his rookie ball season, Garrett has made at least 23 starts every season, if you combine his starts across multiple levels.   Including his 14 starts for the Reds, 117 of his career 121 appearances have been starts coming into the season.

Every year after his rookie ball season, Garrett has pitched at least 130 innings.  That would have led the Reds in innings pitched last year. This is the pitcher that the Reds have stowed away in their bullpen.

The amazing stat line that is buried in Garrett’s minor league career is his average innings per start.  He’s averaging nearly six innings per start. Among the other current prospects only Sal Romano consistently was more of a workhouse.

Next: The Reds are off to another bad start

Garrett is a starting pitching prospect.  Right now he is pitching middle relief for a middling bullpen even though the starting rotation is stripped bare because of injuries.  It’s time for Garrett to get his second chance at starting at the MLB level before his skill set is forgotten.