Amir Garrett throws hitless inning in Bisons debut

Garrett’s fastball velocity was down slightly from a few of his recent performances, as his four-seamer — which touched 95.9 m.p.h. during a single-A rehab outing on July 1 — averaged 93.7 and maxed out at 94.6 on Thursday. For context, the veteran southpaw’s primary heater averaged 95.5 in the majors last season.

Dillon Tate, another notable veteran reliever with prior major-league experience, also pitched in relief versus the RailRiders and extended his scoreless streak to 12 consecutive innings. As a result, the former Baltimore Oriole lowered his ERA on the season to 1.93 with a 3.78 FIP across 23 appearances (28 innings) at triple-A.

Thursday’s debut with the Bisons marked an important milestone for Garrett, who had been working his way back after undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur in March. He only made one appearance with the Blue Jays in spring training, which lasted just two-thirds of an inning, before landing on the shelf.

Garrett spent the remainder of the spring and the first two-and-a-half months of this season rehabbing his left elbow at the organization’s player development complex in Dunedin. Once cleared, he began a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on June 24, his first of three appearances at that level.

As the calendar flipped to July, Garrett’s rehab assignment advanced to single-A, where he pitched in a pair of games, retiring all seven of his batters faced — three via strikeout — over 2.1 innings of work. Now, he’s just one level away from returning to the majors.

When the Blue Jays signed Garrett, they envisioned him as part of their organizational depth with the Bisons, allowing him to continue refining his lower arm slot regardless of whether he made the big-league club out of spring training. Those plans, of course, were delayed by several months. But now that he’s healthy again, he can finally look to get back on track.

The longtime Cincinnati Reds reliever hasn’t pitched in the majors in over a year, with his last appearance coming with the Los Angeles Angels on May 14, 2024. Based on Toronto’s diminishing bullpen depth, however, there’s a chance he could make his return later this season.

While the upcoming All-Star break will provide much-needed relief for a Blue Jays bullpen that’s recently lost Yimi García (ankle), Nick Sandlin (elbow) and Ryan Burr (shoulder), the team is starting to run thin on viable reliever options at triple-A. Thus, the likes of Garrett, Tate and Mason Fluharty could be next in line if a need arises.