By Jonah Drew

Reed Garrett, New York Mets

Of all the relievers on this list, I will say Reed Garrett is the most well known, partly because he is in a major baseball market in New York but mainly because of his sheer dominance. There is absolutely nothing fraudulent about Reed Garrett’s absolutely elite, .79 ERA across 22.2 Innings. Garrett also picked up a save in Los Angeles and has strangely accrued a 5-0 record. Reed Garrett’s peripherals are nearly as impressive as his baseline numbers, his 1.74 xERA(99th percentile), his .145 xBAA(99th percentile), 41.1% K%(99th percentile), his 44% whiff%(99th percentile), and his 32% O-Swing(81st percentile) are all among the best marks in all of baseball. To go along with the fact he is virtually unhittable, when hitters are lucky enough to make contact, their quality of contact has been simply bad. Reed Garrett somehow has not allowed a single barrel in the young 2024 season and has an average exit velocity of 85.5 MPH and a 31.7% hard hit rate. The arsenal that earned him an ERA north of 6 each of the past 2 years is a thing of the past as he has completely revamped his pitch usage. His Four Seam usage has dropped over 30% since his MLB debut back in 2022. He has been a predominantly sweeper/split finger guy thus far, two pitches with a .158 and .116 xwOBA respectively. Reed Garrett didn’t even break camp for this Mets team, fast forward a couple of months, he is one of the best relievers in the game, Baseball!

Cade Smith, Cleveland Guardians

Cade Smith is one of the lesser known relievers in this dominant Cleveland Guardians bullpen, but he has been as dominant as anyone (not named Emmanuel Clase) in it. Cade Smith has not even exceeded his rookie eligibility yet, only throwing 20.1 innings at a 2.21 ERA. Early on, the 6’5, 230 pound rookie is missing bats with the best of them. Despite the low 19th percentile O-Swing, Cade Smith has still posted a 30% whiff rate and an absolutely elite, 96th percentile, 34.1 strikeout rate. Smith generates extension like a 6’5 pitcher should, averaging a diabolical 7.5 feet of stride. Smith’s 2.55 xERA and his .259 xwOBA both back up his result based success. Like Reed Garrett, Smith gets it done with a split finger. The pitch has posted a -4 degree launch angle, a .217 wOBA, and a 34.2% whiff rate. Not just for a rookie, but for anybody, Cade Smith is a problem.

Justin Slaten, Boston Red Sox

Speaking of overachieving pitching staffs, look no further than the Boston Red Sox and Justin Slaten. Justin Slaten had not stepped on a Major League prior to 2024, furthermore he was a rule 5 pick, but not of the Boston Red Sox but of the New York Mets. The Mets did not wait to get rid of him, trading him to Boston in exchange for prospect Ryan Ammons and some cash considerations. As a Mets fan this upset me as Slaten was my favorite Rule 5 arm. However, as a personal consolation prize I received utter dominance for Justin Slaten to the tune of a 1.96 ERA in 23 Innings with one save to boot. Slaten is great in all aspects of relief pitching, he has elite K/BB ratios, he sits 96 MPH with 3 other viable pitches. He generates soft contact at a high level while keeping most of it on the ground. Simply put, Justin Slaten has all the makings of reliever who will pitch quality innings in a bullpen for years to come.

JoJo Romero, St. Louis Cardinals

I challenge you to watch an inning of JoJo Romero ball and not be entertained, matter of fact, don’t bother because spoiler alert, you will not be successful. There is something about a southpaw with a beautiful mustache that is absolutely electric to me. Looking past the stash, Romero has been stellar on multiple levels, from a baseline standpoint, Romero has thrown 21.1 innings of 1.27 ERA ball with an elite 0.66 WHIP. Looking even deeper Romero is equally as impressive, he has a 2.49 xERA and a .211 xBAA. He has also struck out batters at a 30% clip while walking them at just a just a 5.2% clip. His quality of contact is also very impressive, over half of his batted ball events are grounders and just 28.6% of them are hit hard, both tremendous marks. Romero has a true 4 pitch mix headlined by the usual sinker slider combo of ground ball generators like himself.

Adrian Morejon, San Diego Padres

I don’t fault you for saying “Who is Adrian Morejon” but for those who are aware of his existence, how old do you think he is? If are like me you would have guessed 28, maybe 29. Incorrect, Adrian Morejon is just 25 years of age, not sure about you but that floored me. Now to the numbers, the lefty has thrown just over 16 innings at an ERA of 2.7 in 11 appearances. Like the other 4 members of this list, the peripherals back it up. Morejon has an expected ERA just over 3 and wild .78 FIP. Morejon has been a strikeout artist posting a 34% strikeout rate while also limiting quality contact, posting an average exit velocity in the 98th percentile. That is a blend you simply do not see.

Sources

Amazin Avenue

Baseball Savant

Fangraphs