Cincinnati Reds reliever Amir Garrett likely to be limited to shorter outings

Bobby Nightengale | Cincinnati Enquirer

CLEVELAND – Reds left-handed reliever Amir Garrett doesn’t make excuses for giving up five runs and three walks in his last two outings.

“We’re all professional athletes,” Garrett said. “You just have to find a way to get your job done.”

In both appearances, all the damage happened in his second inning on the mound.

He pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Monday’s win over the Cleveland Indians. In the ninth, he issued a leadoff walk and surrendered a two-run homer to Jason Kipnis.

Garrett entered Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs in the seventh inning and completed the frame with two strikeouts and a fly out. Returning to the mound in the eighth, he allowed two walks and a single – all runners who eventually scored.

“Coming back out for the second, I just have to have the same mindset that I had in the first,” Garrett said. “At the end of the day, you have to get your job done no matter what, one inning, half inning, whatever, one batter. You have to just go out there and get outs.”

Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said he doesn’t want to limit Garrett to one inning because “he’s such a dynamic guy.” But that will likely be the plan for the 26-year-old lefty in the immediate future.

“I think we will try to go one inning at a time for a while and see if he gets more comfortable with that,” Riggleman said.

It’s not just Garrett who has been hit around in recent outings.

Entering Tuesday, the Reds’ bullpen had allowed 19 earned runs in 28 ⅓ innings (6.04 ERA) during the month of July.

“I think we’re just a little bit fatigued,” Garrett said. “But this is our job at the end of the day. You have to find a way no matter what, fatigued or not. It’s not something that can’t be done. Everybody does it. Guys get tired, they have to play through it.”

As the Reds have started to win more games, Riggleman noted that’s meant more innings for the team’s top relievers in close games.

“We’re just going to have to get the point where we trust (Tanner) Rainey and (Jackson) Stephens,” Riggleman said. “Based on the way Rainey threw the ball (Monday) night, that was encouraging.”

Garrett, a starter for most of last year, entered Tuesday ranked sixth in the National League with 43 relief appearances.

“It’s something that’s catching up to me a little bit,” Garrett said, “but like I said you have to find a way.”

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LORENZEN REMEMBERS RAVIZZA: When Michael Lorenzen was in college, he took a class from Cal State Fullerton professor, Dr. Ken Ravizza, one of the top sports psychologists in the nation.

Ravizza died Sunday night at 70, six days after suffering a heart attack. He was hired as a consultant by the Cubs in 2015.

“The mental side of it is just so important when it comes to going out there and competing,” Lorenzen said. “I’ve been taking that approach to the pitching side of things and it’s paying off big time. I work hard but I’m not stressing about it. I’m enjoying it and having fun.”

Lorenzen said one of his travel-ball coaches gave him Ravizza’s book, “Heads-Up Baseball: Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time” when he was 12 years old.

“He’d be in our dugout for some games,” Lorenzen said of Ravizza at Fullerton. “It was awesome. I was in Wrigley my rookie year, my first start there and he made sure to come over to our side, come meet me and say, ‘Hi.’ Awesome human being, for sure.

“Ever since I was 12 years old, before I ever met him, he's had an impact on how I went about everything."