It’s been reported that Sergio Mitre has hit the DL. The injury has yet to be reported by the Yankees, but I think it’s fair to assume that he hurt himself posing as a major league pitcher. In his place the Yankees have made a very surprising call up of Steve Garrison. I doubt anybody could have predicted Garrison to get the call but since he is a Jersey native, I’m happy for him.
Garrison is a 24 year old lefty who has been pitching down in Double-A for the Trenton Thunder this season. The only reason he wasn’t pitching for Triple-A was because they didn’t have room on the roster or spot in the rotation for another starter. Although he has been starting games in the minors, it’s likely that he will be the second lefty in the bullpen for the Yankees for the immediate future.
This season Garrison’s numbers are pretty ugly. He is 3-6 with a 6.26 ERA and 1.58 WHIP and has allowed 61 hits over the 46 innings pitched this season. On the bright side, it looks like things are getting better for Garrison as the season continues. He is coming off his strongest start of the season this past Friday where he pitched a season high 6 innings allowing only 1 run on 4 hits. Garrison tied his season high strikeouts with 6 on Friday. Overall, Garrison has improved by going 3-2 with a 4.94 ERA since coming off the DL earlier in the season. As I previously mentioned it seems unusual the Yanks called him up, but Garrison comes very highly recommended from Kevin Towers.
Last season the Padres released Garrison in September and based upon Towers recommendation the Yankees claimed him on waivers. He had a chance to pitch in spring training for the Yankees and actually had a good outing pitching two scoreless innings. Since the Yankees had Feliciano, Marte,& Logan as their lefties, Garrison was not considered for a major league spot on the roster. Since all of the lefties are injured or inconsistent –Garrison got the nod.
Garrison throws four pitches: A fastball (both 2 and 4 seamer), curveball, changeup, and slider. He is very well known for the control over his fastball which sets the tone for other pitches as his 4 seam fastball only hits 90-91 mph max. His two seamer has some sink to it, especially with late action, which causes batters to hit more ground balls. He also throws a curveball, especially to righties. The curve will come in right outside of the plate for righties before dropping down to hit the corner. This pitch is not used as often for lefties, as he uses his slider against them instead. He also uses a changeup which has been a valuable weapon as well. Since he has so many pitches, he is effective against both righties and lefties. Garrison is also known for controlling the running game of opposing teams.
If you look at his scouting report it seems as Garrison has the makings to big a star reliever but he will still have to prove himself in the big leagues. Back in 2005 he was ranked the 27th best prospect by Baseball America, but has failed to break into the big leagues yet. The Yankees obviously see something good about him that he has been on the 40 man roster since the offseason, but it’s still a surprising move especially since JC Romero was signed just last week to a minor league deal in what looked to be the new lefty for the Yankees bullpen. Romero just pitched last week for 1 1/3 scoreless innings but I suppose that wasn’t enough to sway the Yankees…. yet.
