Amir Garrett (RP, CIN) - Week 5 Waiver Wire Analysis

Brady Grove profiles fiery Cincinnati Reds reliever Amir Garrett as a potential waiver wire acquisition of value for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 5 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

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ANALYSIS: There are plenty of factors that make Amir Garrett appealing. There's his 6-5, 228 lbs. frame, his fantastic athleticism as demonstrated by his basketball history at St.Johns, and his aggressive and entertaining approach to baseball braggadocio. He has also gotten off to a Cincinnati Red-hot start to the 2019 campaign with a 0.82 ERA and 0.82 WHIP through the first 11 IP, and he appears to be improving exponentially as he spends more and more time in the majors. "AG" is producing career-high figures across several peripheral categories including H/9 (4.1), HR/9 (0.8), and BB/9 (3.3), while still producing a dangerous 9.8 K/9 in conjunction with a career-high strikeout rate of 29.3%.

It's no wonder that Garrett has been able to limit damage so significantly to start the season off, as he has paired a 1.10 GB/FB ratio with career-best soft and hard contact rates of 20.8% and 33.3% respectively. So while his BABIP of .174 is uncharacteristically low, it is a natural result when he is striking so many opponents out and forcing others into such underwhelming contact.

With a powerful repertoire that features 96 MPH gas on his fastball and a slider increasing in frequency while touching 86 MPH, Amir Garrett appears to be growing at a promising pace as a high-leverage MLB reliever. His strong performance has placed him in position to compete with other young Reds relievers like Michael Lorenzen and Robert Stephenson, and if he keeps this up, he will become the main setup option in Cincinnati in front of Raisel Iglesias.