At long last, Amir Garrett has arrived to triple-A Buffalo. 
After <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2025/02/17/report-blue-jays-sign-left-handed-reliver-amir-garrett-to-a-minor-league-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signing a minor-league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays over the winter</a>, Garrett &#8212; who didn&#8217;t receive an invite to spring training &#8212; made his long-awaited debut with the Bisons on Thursday, completing a hitless inning of work against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders &#8212; the New York Yankees&#8217; triple-A affiliate.
The 33-year-old lefty entered out of the bullpen in the sixth inning, retiring three of his four batters faced &#8212; one via strikeout &#8212; on 16 pitches (11 strikes), with a one-out walk serving as the lone blemish of his outing. His only punchout of the night came against Jeimer Candelario, who offered at all four pitches during the at-bat and swung through a high-and-away 94 m.p.h. fastball for strike three.
<figure id="attachment_88311" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-88311" style="width: 1000px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-88311" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/8f22a445-5bb1-4f87-ab60-96c36e5a9b17.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1000" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/8f22a445-5bb1-4f87-ab60-96c36e5a9b17.jpg 1000w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/8f22a445-5bb1-4f87-ab60-96c36e5a9b17-300x300.jpg 300w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/8f22a445-5bb1-4f87-ab60-96c36e5a9b17-150x150.jpg 150w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/8f22a445-5bb1-4f87-ab60-96c36e5a9b17-768x768.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-88311" class="wp-caption-text">Source: <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=7/10/2025&amp;gamePk=780592&amp;chartType=pitch&amp;legendType=pitchResult&amp;playerType=pitcher&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;pitchHand=&amp;batSide=&amp;descFilter=&amp;ptFilter=&amp;resultFilter=&amp;hf=liveAB&amp;sportId=11&amp;liveAb=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baseball Savant</a></figcaption></figure>
Garrett&#8217;s fastball velocity was down slightly from a few of his recent performances, as his four-seamer &#8212; which touched 95.9 m.p.h. during a single-A rehab outing on July 1 &#8212; averaged 93.7 and maxed out at 94.6 on Thursday. For context, the veteran southpaw&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;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&#8217;s rehab assignment advanced to single-A, where he pitched in a pair of games, retiring all seven of his batters faced &#8212; three via strikeout &#8212; over 2.1 innings of work. Now, he&#8217;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&#8217;s healthy again, he can finally look to get back on track.
The longtime Cincinnati Reds reliever hasn&#8217;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&#8217;s diminishing bullpen depth, however, there&#8217;s <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2025/07/10/ryan-burrs-injury-departure-thins-blue-jays-bullpen-depth-trade-deadline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a chance he could make his return later this season</a>.
While the upcoming All-Star break will provide much-needed relief for a Blue Jays bullpen that&#8217;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.

At long last, Amir Garrett has arrived to triple-A Buffalo. 

After <a href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2025/02/17/report-blue-jays-sign-left-handed-reliver-amir-garrett-to-a-minor-league-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signing a minor-league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays over the winter</a>, Garrett -- who didn't receive an invite to spring training -- made his long-awaited debut with the Bisons on Thursday, completing a hitless inning of work against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders -- the New York Yankees' triple-A affiliate.

The 33-year-old lefty entered out of the bullpen in the sixth inning, retiring three of his four batters faced -- one via strikeout -- on 16 pitches (11 strikes), with a one-out walk serving as the lone blemish of his outing. His only punchout of the night came against Jeimer Candelario, who offered at all four pitches during the at-bat and swung through a high-and-away 94 m.p.h. fastball for strike three.

[caption id="attachment_88311" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]<img class="size-full wp-image-88311" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2025/07/8f22a445-5bb1-4f87-ab60-96c36e5a9b17.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="1000" /> Source: <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=7/10/2025&amp;gamePk=780592&amp;chartType=pitch&amp;legendType=pitchResult&amp;playerType=pitcher&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;pitchHand=&amp;batSide=&amp;descFilter=&amp;ptFilter=&amp;resultFilter=&amp;hf=liveAB&amp;sportId=11&amp;liveAb=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baseball Savant</a>[/caption]

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 href="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/2025/07/10/ryan-burrs-injury-departure-thins-blue-jays-bullpen-depth-trade-deadline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a chance he could make his return later this season</a>.

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.

Amir Garrett throws hitless inning in Bisons debut

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Ernie Clement (22) beats the tag from Athletics second baseman Luis Urias (17) to slide safely to second base on a double during the eighth inning at Rogers Centre.

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