On an afternoon the Mets ascended into playoff position, their best bit of news surfaced following the 7-0 win over the Nationals at Citi Field.
Reed Garrett, a bullpen revelation this season, should be OK.
There was serious concern within the club after the valuable righty reported elbow/forearm discomfort — he said his hand cramped up Tuesday and he lost feeling for the ball — and all eyes went toward his UCL.
But after several doctors took a look, Garrett has been diagnosed with nerve inflammation that will keep him out around two to four weeks, Carlos Mendoza said.
“Huge sense of relief,” the Mets manager said Thursday of Garrett, who had been pitching for a third time in four days for a thin bullpen when the alarms went off.
The righty could not close out Tuesday’s win over the Nationals, serving up a two-run homer to Keibert Ruiz and walking Jacob Young before Edwin Diaz had to enter what earlier had been a blowout.
The cramped hand and loss of feeling help explain that ninth inning.
“I’ve never really experienced anything like this before,” said Garrett, whose 36 appearances only trails Jake Diekman (38) in the Mets’ pen. “It was just one of those things where I knew something was off, and I didn’t feel right. Obviously … it turned into a stressful outing. That kind of snowballed the effect of it.”
Garrett, whose ERA rose to 3.64, has struggled a bit as his innings have piled up, but he has been arguably the best bullpen piece the Mets have had since the onset of the season.
“Obviously we have some stuff that we can clean up,” Garrett said, “but I’m happy that everything’s OK.”
Luis Torrens threw out Lane Thomas trying to steal second base. The backup catcher has caught seven of 10 attempted base-stealers.
That 70 percent mark would easily be the best in baseball if it qualified. Among catchers who had caught at least 150 innings, Kansas City’s Freddy Fermin led entering play Thursday at 43 percent.
Phil Maton pitched a perfect, two-strikeout seventh inning in his Mets debut. The eighth-year veteran, whom the Mets traded for Tuesday, looked like the same pitcher Mendoza (as Yankees bench coach) had seen plenty of the past few seasons (when Maton pitched for the Astros).
“Same guy. His ability to spin the baseball, keep hitters off-balance, stay on the attack, Getting strike one, getting swing and misses. Same Phil Maton, [whom] I’m pretty familiar with. I’m glad he’s on my side.”