Reed Garrett had never experienced the full closer treatment before.
With Edwin Diaz sidelined with a shoulder impingement, and struggling mightily before that, the Mets have been using a closer-by-committee approach.
During their 10-9 win over the Diamondbacks on Friday night at Citi Field, the Mets turned to Garrett to pitch the ninth inning.
Though with a five-run lead it wasn’t a save situation, the Mets treated Garrett as a closer during his entrance.
The new lights around Citi Field flashed as Garrett entered, as they did for Diaz’s introductions, and Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba” blared on the speakers.
“It’s cool, it was awesome,” Garrett told The Post prior to Saturday’s 10-5 loss to Arizona. “Whenever my name is called to pitch, if that’s the fifth, the sixth, the ninth, it doesn’t matter. But yeah, that was definitely cool. It was awesome. Cool experience.”
Garrett, who did not pitch in Saturday’s loss, had never been treated like a closer in that matter throughout his career, and certainly had never received a light show like that.
Unique closer entrances have become more common around MLB in recent years.
Even Garrett’s song choice was new.
“I just wanted a little switch, I thought that was a cool song and would get people interested,” Garrett said. “It’s something that I enjoy.”
Garrett was surprisingly dominant to start the year, seemingly out of nowhere as a 31-year-old journeyman who didn’t even make the major league roster coming out of spring training.
He’s spent ample time in the minors, and even played in Japan for two years to keep himself financially afloat.
But that Cinderella-like run has started to wane a bit in recent games.
He entered Friday’s clash holding a 10-5 lead, but quickly gave up two homers and saw the lead shrink to 10-9 before he managed to close it out.
Three appearances prior, Garrett imploded in the eighth inning of the Mets’ 8-7 loss to the Giants on May 24.
Entering with a 6-2 lead, Garrett subsequently gave up five runs.
“They were super aggressive,” Garrett said, regarding Friday’s outing. “In that situation, I just was trying to get ahead. They put two good swings on two pretty decent pitches and ended up beating me. It was what it was, but we ended up winning and that’s all that matters.”
